I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



34 



} UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 



PRACTICAL 

DISCOURSES. 



PRACTICAL 

DISCOURSES, 

INTENDED TO PROMOTE 

€&e 3[mptouement ana i£>appine0!8i 

OF 

THE YOUNG. 



BY 

HENRY BELFRAGE, d. d 

MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL, FALKIRK. 



w 

EDINBURGH : A 

Printed by A, Balfour, Merchant Court ; 

AND SOLD BY OLIPHANT, WAUGH & INNES, DAVID 
BROWN, AND OGLE, ALLARDYCE & THOMSON, EDIN- 
BURGH ; J. RANKINE, AND T. JOHNSTON, FALKIRK ; 
M. OGLE, GLASGOW ; T. HAMILTON, AND OGLES, 
DUNCAN & COCHRAN, LONDON. 



1817. 



3^ 



THE YOUNG 

IN THE 

associate Congregation of jFaifcitfe, 

THESE DISCOURSES 

ARE 

AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED, 

WITH THE BEST WISHES OF 
THE AUTHOR, 

FOR 

THEIR PRESENT AND THEIR FUTURE WELFARE. 



PREFACE. 



The following Discourses were preached to the 
Young under the pastoral care of the Author ; and 
he has been induced to publish them by the hope, 
that their practical counsels thus remaining, may be 
useful long after the admonitions of the pulpit shall 
have been forgotten. He is far from pretending, 
that this little volume exhibits all the duties incum- 
bent on persons in early life. It is his object to di- 
rect their attention to those which are of the great- 
est importance ; and to those which are peculiarly 
required by the manners and circumstances of the 
present age. He wishes to excite the young to the 
acceptance and imitation of the Saviour, to give 
them just views of human life, to prepare them for 
encountering its temptations, and for enduring its 
sorrows ; and to suggest such counsels and admoni- 
tions as may assist them in the government of their 
passions, and in the formation of devout and virtuous 
habits. 

Though these Discourses are directed to the 
young, persons in more advanced periods of life 
may, it is hoped, read them with some profit. The 



VUl PREFACE. 

principles, habits, and dispositions, which are the 
ornaments and the guardians of youth, will be found 
the best support of the integrity of the man of 
business, and the sweetest solace of declining age. 

He feels the highest respect for the works of those 
masters in Israel, who have devoted their talents to 
the improvement of the rising generation, and who 
have instructed and admonished them with so much 
wisdom and eloquence ; and it was his wish to se- 
lect subjects different from those which they have 
illustrated with so much judgment and feeling. In 
the few instances in which his plan led him to topics 
which any of them have discussed, he has endea- 
voured to give to his illustrations all the variety 
in his power ; and while he is conscious of the 
inferiority of this performance, he hopes that it 
will be considered as adapted to be useful, and that 
it will be accepted as the offering of a heart eager 
for the religious and moral prosperity of the young, 
and affectionately solicitous for their eternal salva- 
tion. The indulgent reception with which his Sa- 
cramental Addresses and Meditations have been fa- 
voured, for which he feels the deepest gratitude, 
and the manner in which the publication of these 
Sermons has been solicited by some of the parents 
and friends of the young, have led him to form this 
expectation. It is his earnest prayer to God, that 
he may be pleased to accompany with his blessing, 
this humble attempt to promote the cause of practi- 



PREFACE. IX 

eal goodness ; and that he may pour down upon 
those for whose benefit it is intended, the grace and 
consolations of his good Spirit ; and if it is instru- 
mental in rendering any more holy and more happy ? 
it will be to him a most gratifying result of his la- 
bour of love. 

Falkirk, 1 
April 1. 181 7. J 



CONTENTS. 



Page, 

Serm. I. On the Religious and Moral Education of the 

Young ........ 1 

II. Ditto 21 

III. Ditto 3T 

IV. Early seeking of Christ encouraged 58 

V. On the Homage due to a Father's God., 80 

VI. On the Duties of Brothers and Sisters 101 

VII. The Young Comforted on the Death of a Mother 120 
VIII. The Meekness and Gentleness of Christ recom- 
mended to the Imitation of the Young.... 141 

IX. On the Guilt and Punishment of the Children that 

Mocked Elisha 162 

X. On the Duties of Servants 178 

XL On Prayer 195 

XII. Early acquaintance with the Scriptures recom- 
mended 213 

XIII. The early observance of the Lord's Supper recom- 

mended 232 

XIV. The Young warned against Folly 250 

XV. On the Friendship of Jonathan 267 

XVI. The Young reconciled to an Early Death... 281 

XVII. The Young warned against Vicious Passions 297 

XV1IL The Young called to follow departed Saints 314 



SERMON I 



ON THE RELIGIOUS A^D MORAL EDUCATION OF 
THE YOUNG. 



Deut. vi. 6, 7. 

" And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in 
thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently to thy child- 
ren, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, 
and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down* and 
when thou risest up." 

PART FIRST, 

This passage exhibits a very solemn scene to our 
view. Moses reminds the people of Israel of the in- 
terpositions of Providence in their favour, and repeats 
the religious and moral injunctions which he had for- 
merly delivered to them, with all the majesty that was 
suited to the authority with which he was invested, 
and with all that tender solicitude which the idea of 
his speedy removal could not fail to excite in a heart 
so affectionate and zealous as his. Though he had 
suffered much from their stubbornness and folly, he 
loved them with the affection of a father ; and to leave 
them a united, obedient, and happy people, was the 
earnest wish of his heart. He did not, like many le- 
gislators, limit his arrangements to the removal of pre- 
sent evils, or the obtaining of present advantages ; 
but pointed out to the Israelites such a course of do* 

A 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SEItM. I. 



mestic discipline, as was calculated to form a succes- 
sion of wise, intrepid, and virtuous characters in their 
tribes* He was not permitted to go before them into 
the promised land ; but his admonitions and counsels, 
carefully preserved r among them, guided the move- 
ments of their armies, the worship of their temple, 
and the lessons of their dwellings. Succeeding gene- 
rations gloried in the religion of Moses ; children were 
taught to consider him as the first of the great men 
of their nation ; and his precepts were their earliest 
lessons. 

It is the duty of Christian parents to make known 
to their children, not only the religious and moral in- 
junctions of Moses, but all those which have been 
communicated to us in succeeding revelations, and to 
direct their attention especially to the words of eternal 
life which God hath spoken to us by his Son, and to 
the authority and grace with which he calls them to sit 
down and learn at his feet. In discoursing on this 
subject, I shall shew what children should be taught ; 
the manner in which this duty should be performed ; 
and recommend it by some motives. 

I. Let us consider in what the young should be in- 
structed. 

1. It is the duty of parents to teach them to form 
just sentiments of the Deity. Just views of the per- 
fections and character ©f God are necessary to all ac- 
ceptable worship ; they elevate and improve the intel- 
lectual and moral faculties, and excite in the heart 
many pleasing emotions. The attention of the young 
is very early engaged by the magnificence and beauty 
of the universe ; and there are so many traces of the 
divine power, wisdom, and goodness, in the visible 
creation, that you can find, in the greatest variety, 



SERM. I. 



EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. 



3 



the means of directing their thoughts to the Creator 
of all. It is easy to shew them, that there are certain 
limits beyond which human power and skill cannot go, 
and that agency, far superior to any which man can 
put forth, must have been employed in spreading out 
the ocean, in forming the planets, and in establishing 
the hills. Point out to them the wisdom that is appa- 
rent in the variety of the creatures, in the succession 
of day and night, and in the vicissitudes of the sea- 
sons. Speak to them of the goodness which supplies 
the wants of every thing that lives, and in such a va- 
riety of ways ministers delight to the senses of man, 
and which, while it blesses angels and archangels, calls 
forth the songs of the birds and the infant's smile, 
and inspires and maintains parental tenderness and 
care. When the tempest is raging, tell them of Him 
whose way is in the whirlwind, and who gives his voice 
in the thunder ; and when you walk with them by the 
mouldering remains of ancient buildings, and among 
the memorials of the dead, where many a stone sunk 
into the earth, and the total erasement of many an in- 
scription which once celebrated the character of the 
departed, declare how transient is the being and the 
fame of man, raise their thoughts to Him whose years 
can have no end and whose glory shall endure for ever. 
In the Scriptures, you will find displays of the divine 
perfections far more glorious and affecting than these 
and I trust that it will be your peculiar delight to shew 
them how the glory of God shines in the face of Jesus, 
and how divine wisdom, power, and love, appear with 
the brightest effulgence at the cross. 

Children should be taught the universal presence of 
God, and his perfect knowledge of all their thoughts, 
words, and actions. This will preserve them from se- 
cret sins, maintain their virtuous firmness and resolu- 



RELIGIOUS AND TtfORAL 



SERM. I* 



tion in scenes far removed from a parent's eye,, and 
excite them to the careful performance of duties which 
no human being can witness. They should be in- 
structed also in the holiness of God ; that sin is the 
object of his utter abhorrence; that he marks with dis- 
pleasure the workings of pride, anger, and impurity in 
children ; but that he notices, with complacency, every 
■virtuous principle even in its feeblest bud. Let them 
be taught, that all elements, all creatures, and all 
events, are subject to his controul ; that the daily ho- 
anage of devotion which he claims is the noblest privi- 
lege of their nature ; and that it should be the simple 
•and genuine expression of gratitude, reverence, and 
love. Such views of the Supreme Being will, by the 
working of his Spirit, form them to a piety rational 
and cheering. Let not the idle tales of ghosts and 
witches be mentioned in your dwelling, unless it be to 
expose their absurdity. It is high time that enlighten- 
ed piety should drive these phantoms from the path of 
children, and suffer them not to go to places where the 
sober impressions which you have formed, may be ef- 
faced by stories which now flow only from the imbeci- 
lity of age, or the credulity of superstition. 

2. The young should be instructed in the statements 
of Scripture respecting the fall and the ruin of man. 
The narrative of this event forcibly shews, that relations 
should beware of attempting to persuade each other to 
do what God forbids, and that, whatever fair appear- 
ances temptation may assume, yielding to it must in- 
volve us in guilt and misery. The minds of the young 
must be carefully guarded against light ideas of man's 
first sin. They should be taught, that Adam and Eve, 
io eating the forbidden fruit, were guilty of the blackest 
ingratitude, shewed an impious discontent with the li- 
beral provision God had made for their enjoyment, 



SERM. 1. 



EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. 



gave more credit to the devil than to their Maker, and 
cruelly destroyed the happiness of their posterity. In- 
form them, that Adam, being the representative of his 
descendants in the covenant of works, involved them 
in the guilt and ruin of his fall, and that the tendencies 
to evil, so early apparent in childhood, are to be as- 
cribed to that corruption of nature which they derive 
from him: The murder of Abel by Cain his brother, 
proves the rapid progress of human depravity, and 
what a feeble barrier natural affection is before malig- 
nant passions. 

The diseases and death of little children strikingly 
teach the imputation of Adam's sin to them. They 
suggest an argument for this doctrine, which impresses 
the hearts of the young, and can never be refuted by 
the most subtle disputer. Look at that little child, 
whose face, a few days ago, was so fair and blooming, 
and whose sprightly movements in its mother's arms 
indicated its health and vivacity ; now, it is distorted 
by convulsions, and loathsome by putrefying sores ; 
and, after a struggle, which cannot be seen without 
horror, it gives up the ghost. No more shall these 
eyes glisten at a parent's return ; or these arms be 
clasped around the neck of its earliest and kindest 
friend. No maternal care can recal freshness and 
bloom to that cheek. The mother's bosom cannot give 
warmth to the cold clay ; it must be placed in its cof- 
fin, and borne away to the grave. Many are the spots 
in the church-yard where parents stop, and where the 
rising tear tells that there lies the dust to which their 
soul cleaves. And is the infant's moan pleasing to the 
ear of mercy ? Does the Father of goodness delight to 
show in the infant's dust, how early he can bring to 
nought the work of his hands I No ! " Death passes 
upon all, because all have sinned/' 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SERM. I. 



But these are not the most dreadful consequences of 
the fall. Error and folly, impiety and vice of all de- 
scriptions, have overspread the earth. The crimes of 
which children read or hear, and the trespasses which 
they commit, must be set before them in their aggra- 
vations, that the sanctifying grace of God may be 
sought and valued. There are some who condemn 
giving children such gloomy views of human nature ; 
but it will keep them from trusting to their own hearts, 
and in the fair shew of others, and guide benevolent 
feeling to its noblest object. Shall peevishness and 
folly prompt all the tears of childhood, and shall none 
of them be devoted to godly sorrow ? It is a most in- 
teresting sight to the pious on earth, and to the angels 
in heaven, when children weep over the evil of their 
ways, and implore from the Spirit of all grace, for 
themselves, and for their companions, that first of 
blessings " a new heart." 

3. The young must be instructed in the mission and 
character of the Redeemer, and in the regards which 
they owe to him. When no efforts of men or angels 
could expiate our guilt, or redeem us from destruction, 
God appointed his own Son to accomplish this won- 
drous work of mercy, and, in the fulness of time, sent 
him into the world to save the lost. Show them, how 
Jesus, in this office, was typified by the characters and 
incidents that affect them so much in Old Testament 
history. Direct their attention to the Saviour passing 
through the stages of infancy and childhood, that he 
might in all things be like unto his brethren, and that 
he might set them an example of the graces which are 
the best ornaments of early life. Nothing is so likely 
to subdue the love of vain show in the young, as the 
view of the babe in the manger ; or to awaken the de- 
sire to excel, as the contemplation of the child Jesus 



SERM. It EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG, 



7 



" increasing in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with 
God and man." 1 By stating to them the subjection in 
which Christ lived to Joseph and Mary, you will make 
them ashamed of that presumption which induces them 
to attempt to be their own masters, and of the disobe- 
dienee which refuses to do what you require, 

In tracing before them the public ministry of Jesus> 
mark, with peculiar care, every incident that has a di- 
rect reference to children. When infants were brought 
to him by their mothers, " he took them up in his 
arms, and laid his hands on them, and blessed them." 2 
What an interesting sight for the young ! The mothers 
are delighted with his kindness ; the children are 
charmed with his look of sweet benignity; and all 
around are struck with the affectionate fervour of his 
prayers. From this scene we might have been certain, 
though he had given us no positive assurance of it, that 
the piety that brings little children to him will never be 
repelled with coldness and disdain, and that the infant 
that is raised to him will never be harshly thrust away. 
Direct their attention to the honours that were paid to 
our Lord by little children, who, by shouting " Hosan* 
nah to the Son of David I** expressed their wish for the 
prosperity of his cause, and called the young in after 
ages to seek the enlargement of his kingdom, and to 
shew forth the honour of his name. On a certain oc- 
casion, our Lord called a little child, and set him in 
the midst of the disciples. Little children were not 
afraid to come to Jesus, for with him there was neither 
repulsive sternness, nor haughty scorn. The most at- 
tracting affability was displayed in his looks and man- 
ner. And this was the lesson which he taught from 
the appearance of this child, " Except ye be converted,, 



1 Luke ii. 52, 2 Mark x. 16. 



3 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SERM. I. 



and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the 
kingdom of God." 3 In humility, and in freedom from 
all malice, the disciples of Christ must resemble chil- 
dren* 

In teaching children, you may expatiate on the vir- 
tues of our Lord's life ; his earnest devotion, unwearied 
beneficence, and entire submission to the will of God ; 
his meekness amidst the most irritating treatment, and 
his contentment under every privation. Explain to 
them, that Jesus groaned in the garden, and died on 
the cross, because he bore our griefs, and had our sins 
imputed to him ; and that this was an act of generosity 
on his part that never was equalled, and that shall never 
be forgotten. Shew them, that his care of his mother 
while he was suffering, was intended to enforce the 
claims of parents to the kindest attentions of their chil- 
dren. 

After our Lord's resurrection, he testified that his af- 
fection to children had undergone no change ; for he 
charged Peter to feed his lambs, and the sacrament of 
baptism was appointed, that their interest in the death 
of Christ might be recognised, and that they might be 
led to the blood of sprinkling. When this ordinance is 
administered, children ought neither to turn away from 
it with indifference, nor to gaze on it with idle curiosi- 
ty, but should be employed in asking for themselves 
and for the children baptised the sanctiflcation of the 
Holy Ghost. 

Nothing interests children more than the elevation 
of those who have been depressed by calumny and mis- 
fortune. They are charmed when they are told, that such 
persons display the same amiable manners which they 
manifested in humbler scenes; and they will listen to you 

3 Matth* xviiL 3. 



SERM. I. EDUCATION OF THE YOUNtx. §• 

with wonder and delight, when you speak to them of 
the Lamb in the midst of the throne ; of the generous 
use which he makes of his high authority ; of his sym- 
pathy with the pious in all their sorrows ; of the delight 
with which he presents the offerings of early goodness 
to the Father ; and of his preparing mansions, where 
his genuine disciples shall dwell with him for ever. Ex- 
hibit to them also the blessings which are obtained by 
those who are united to Jesus, even the remission of 
their sins, however numerous and aggravated; peace 
with God, and all the privileges of divine friendship, 
support, and consolation, under the afflictions of life ; a 
death in peace and hope; and eternal salvation in th« 
world to come. These views of the Saviour's mission 
and character are well adapted to win the heart ; and love 
to Christ will preserve them from every criminal at- 
tachment, animate them to the duties of obedience, 
yield them the most exquisite enjoyment, and may 
cheer the gloom of age by the Redeemer's testimony to 
the kindness of their early days. 

4. There are certain qualities which you ought to cut* 
tivate in the young, by setting before them their ne- 
cessity and their importance. 

Teach them reverence for things sacred. The name 
of God demands their fear. It is not in your power to 
keep them from hearing the language of profanity, for 
in every school there are children of Belial who curse 
and swear, and the oaths of the blasphemer will some- 
times meet their ear as they pass along the streets ; but 
give them such views of the impiety and the danger of 
this practice as will make them abhor it, and shun the 
society of those noted for this habit. Teach them to 
venerate the word of God. Shew them how " he hath 
magnified it above all his name," by the bright impres- 
sions of a divine origin which he hath impressed on it, 



10 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SERM. I. 



by the important purposes which he accomplishes by 
it, and by appointing it to be the rule of judgment when 
the quick and the dead shall be summoned to meet the 
Lord in the clouds. Never permit them to read the 
Bible or to speak of it with levity, and discourage all 
questions respecting its contents that spring from a vain 
and presumptuous curiosity. Let your own characters 
and theirs be this, that you " tremble at God's word." 
Children should be taught to respect the worship of 
God. Suffer them not to be absent from your family 
devotions without a real necessity ; and beware of per- 
forming these in that hurried, careless, or languid man- 
ner, which will induce them to think lightly of domestic 
worship. If in your dwellings it is often neglected, or 
performed without solemnity and interest ; when they 
are placed in houses of their own, they will feel no in- 
ducement to maintain it. The Sabbath is a day holy 
to the Lord, and honourable, and you ought to incul- 
cate the propriety of a sedate behaviour, both in the 
church and at home. It is easy to shew them how un- 
reasonable it is to complain that one day in the week 
should be kept sacred to the Lord, since he allows us 
six for our worldly pursuits ; and that the exercises of 
piety yield a pleasure at the time, and on reflection > 
which no gay indulgence, and no secular employment, 
can give. 

Children should also be taught to venerate the wise 
and the good, and to consider the Christian virtues as 
constituting the noblest respectability. The saints may 
be depressed by poverty, and scorned by those whose 
respect is attracted only by the titles and the wealth of 
this world, but they are the excellent of the earth. 

Inculcate the reverence which is due to the divine 
government of the world, and which will maintain faith 
and patience till calamitous times are past, and preserve 



SERM, I. 



EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. 



11 



from that wantonness and insolence in prosperity by 
which the goodness of God is so often abused. 

Mercy is another quality which you should labour 
to cultivate in the hearts of the young. They must be 
taught how necessary compassion and beneficence are 
from the evils under which multitudes groan, from the 
high place which they occupy in the character of our 
Lord, and from the happiness which the increase of 
them never fails to insure. Pleasure hath no sounds 
so sweet to the heart, as the blessings of those that 
were ready to perish ; nor is there any employment in 
which we more resemble our Lord, than in going about 
doing good. 

To impress the lessons of mercy on the heart, some 
have wisely recommended it to parents, to make chil- 
dren their instruments in dealing their alms to the poor, 
and in giving instruction to the neglected. In walking 
with the young, many scenes of sorrow will present 
themselves before you, which you ought not to pass by 
without exciting their compassion. In fixing their eye 
on the orphan in rags, on the wretched hovel of aged 
poverty, on the forlorn state of families that have known 
better days, and on the last farewell of a dying parent, 
you will rouse the sensibility of the youthful bosom ; 
the sobs which their compassion prompts will make 
their hearts better ; and their anxiety for their relief 
may be the opening of a liberal and active charity. 

The books which you put into the hands of your 
children, should be such as are adapted to cherish be* 
nevolence. The leading characters in the books which 
are often read by them, are seldom of this cast. Let 
not their minds dwell on the applauses and triumphs 
with which a conqueror is honoured, whatever be his 
cause, lest they be inspired with the love of false glo- 
ry. One look at garments rolled in blood, at the last 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



S£RM. t. 



agony ©f the mangled soldier, at the wretchedness 
which his fate spreads through his dwelling, would make 
a heart, not corrupted by the prejudices of the world, 
turn away with disgust from the most splendid achieve- 
ments winch history records, and fix its delights on 
the scene that is blessed by gentleness and peace. 

It has been stated by writers on this topic, that cru- 
elty to the lower animals ought to be checked, in what- 
ever form it appears in the young. In this practice, 
we may see the openings of the inhumanity that grinds 
the face of the poor, the tyranny that fills families with 
gloom and terror, and the ferocity that delights in war. 
On the other hand, in the mercy which children shew 
to these creatures, and in the care which they take of 
their bird, their dog, or their lamb, we see the earnest 
of a beneficence which will hereafter give happiness to 
objects more dignified. 

Parents feel a high degree of pleasure, when their 
children are applauded for excelling in the accomplish- 
ments of a liberal education ; but it is as nothing when 
compared to their ecstacy, when the Judge of all shall 
acknowledge them as the friends of the unhappy, and 
as the possessors of his spirit of kindness and charity. 

Sobriety is another quality whieh you ought to culti- 
vate in the young. I mean not to intimate, that you 
should labour to repress the sprightliness of childhood 
and the vivacity of youth, or to recommend a mean, 
sordid, and gloomy temper. There are gaieties in 
which they should be indulged, and to debar them from 
these, is to make them detest religion, and count a fa- 
ther's house, where all is morose and cheerless, no bet- 
ter than a prison. Who are the persons, who have 
rushed to the most hideous excesses of folly and dissi- 
pation ? They are the young, who have escaped from 
the injudicious restraints of weak and narrow-minded 



SERM. I. EDUCATION OF THE YOUN&. !S 

parents, and who, from the manner in which the servi» 
ces of religion were exacted of them, were led to hate 
them as the penances of superstition. But while you 
allow them to rejoice in their youth, check all merri- 
ment that is unseasonable, unbecoming their characters, 
or excessive in degree. They must be taught to keep 
their appetites and passions under the controul of rea- 
son, and to shun every pleasure that may be dangerous 
to innocence* Instructions of this kind must be given 
with peculiar prudence and delicacy ; for a coarse and 
open disclosure of the evils of sensuality, is more like- 
ly to corrupt than to sanctify the hearts of the young. 

Let parents take heed, that their speech and their 
conduct before the young be sober and decorous. If 
the roar of intemperance, or the jests of wantonness, 
are heard in your dwelling, they will produce impres- 
sions which all your labours will not efface. Think, ye 
parents, as you mark the opening talents of a son, and 
anticipate in him the accomplishments of the scholar, 
or the success of the man of business, what you would 
feel at seeing his mind enervated, and his prospects 
blasted by dissipation. Think, while the graces of your 
daughters charm you, what you would feel at seeing these 
lost in the infamy of vice ; and conjure them never for 
one moment to relax in virtuous caution, and never in 
a single instance to yield to the enticements of sinners. 
Teachers are required in scripture to exhort the young 
that they be sober-minded, and that their food and ap- 
parel, their language and manners, exhibit that temper- 
ance, propriety, and modesty, which indicate good sense 
as well as virtuous feeling. 

Justice is another quality which must be cultivated in 
the young. Children often discover an impatient desire 
to possess whatever strikes their fancy ; but in this they 
ought not to be gratified. If they are indulged in this as 

B 



14 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SERM. i. 



to what belongs to their parents, they will think them- 
selves entitled to the same liberty as to what is the pro- 
perty of others, and pilfer what is denied to them. There 
have been parents who, while labouring under hardships, 
have employed children to steal for their relief. To a 
virtuous mind, there is nothing so horrible in the most 
oppressive labour, or the most abject beggary, as in 
such a mode of supply. Did they think, when they 
urge them to such deeds, that they are thrusting them 
into a path which will lead them to an infamous death, 
and that the reproaches of the world, the curses of then- 
last hour, and their upbraidings through eternity, will 
accuse them as their instigators to this crime, they 
would find it impossible to swallow a morsel thus pro- 
cured, and would welcome any miser}'' that want could 
bring rather than such relief. Let children be taught, 
that the coarsest fare of honest industry is far sweeter 
than all the luxuries that can be obtained by fraud and 
violence ; that the comforts of the wealthy should be 
viewed, not with envy, but with gratitude ; that a cove- 
tous heart is never satisfied ; and that uprightness in 
the meanest station is always respected, while the pros- 
perous villain is detested and cursed. And let your 
chearful discharge of the duties of your station, your 
grateful enjoyment of the blessings of your lot, though 
inferior to the portion of some around you, and your 
benevolent prayers for the permanence of the happiness 
of your neighbours, enforce all your lessons of justice. 
Few can leave to their children great possessions, or a 
splendid name ; but he who has maintained through 
life the character of an honest man, and who can charge 
his children, when he is dying, not to degrade his me- 
mory by the least act of injustice, appears invested with 
a dignity, which the treasures of the world and its 
proudest triumphs cannot impart. 



SERM. I. EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. 15 

Children must also be taught to maintain a strict re- 
gard for truth. They are very apt to tell lies to con- 
ceal faults, or to gain an object on which their hearts 
are set. The severe corrections which they receive 
from parents or masters, sometimes drive them to this 
expedient to avoid their wrath. Lying, in children, 
often arises from vanity and envy, from a wish to ag- 
grandize themselves, and to ^ depreciate the merits of 
others. 

To guard them against this practice, they should be 
told how disgraceful it is deemed by men, and how 
odious it is in the sight of God ; that what is gained by 
lying is but a poor compensation for the dread of de- 
tection, and for the infamy which it brings ; that the 
liar forfeits all the confidence of the world ; that this is 
the character of the Devil ; that he is the father of lies, 
and that none who love or make falsehoods shall be 
permitted to enter the heavenly city. Let parents 
avoid every thing that may lessen the reverence for 
truth in the minds of their children. This may be 
done by sporting with their credulity by idle jests, and 
marvellous tales, by speaking with contempt and abuse 
of those when they are gone whom they saw you 
treating with the utmost complaisance, and heard you 
addressing in the language of friendship ; by your dis* 
regard of those vows and professions which you made 
in the solemnities of religion, and by practising any 
artifice in your worldly transactions. 

A strict regard to truth in children has been deem- 
ed, even by heathen parents, a shining excellence in 
character, on which the mind has reflected with exalta- 
tion when they were gone. "He never told a lie, no 
never," was the affecting exclamation of an African 
mother on the death of a son ; and shall Christians who 
profess to be the disciples of a Master who was full of 



16 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SERM. L 



grace and truth, put a less value on this excellence ? 
It was one of David's lessons to children, " what man 
is he that desireth life, and loveth man}?- days, that he 
may see good, keep thy tongue from evil, and thy 
lips from speaking guile ;" > 1 and this is the sweetest joy 
when conscience testifies when existence is closing, 
" That in simplicity and in godly sincerity we have 
had our conversation in the world." 2 

5. Children must be taught to look up to the Holy 
Spirit for light, grace, and comfort. The Spirit is pro- 
mised in Scripture to perform many gracious operations 
on the soul, and God's willingness to give Him is illus- 
trated in a manner which cannot but interest both your 
hearts and theirs. (e If a son shall ask bread of any of 
you that is a father, will he give him a stone ; or if he 
ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent ; or if 
he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion ? If 
ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto 
your children, how much more shall your heavenly Fa- 
ther give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ?" 3 
There are many things mysterious, both in the nature 
and manner of the Spirit's operations ; but you can 
find statements in Scripture sufficiently plain to enable 
you to teach them what they may derive from Him. 

The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of wisdom and revela- 
tion in the doctrines of Christ; and you must assure 
tUem that it is He alone who can exhibit divine truth in 
its glory and power, and that without his illumination no 
instructions of yours, or of the holiest and wisest teach- 
ers, can impart to them saving knowledge. Amidst 
your various lessons, inculcate on them the necessity 
of this prayer, « O send out thy light and thy truth I" 



i PsaL xxxiv, 12, 13, 
5 Luke x. 11—13. 



2 % Cor. 12. 



SERM. I. EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. I? 

He is also a Spirit of holiness, and you must teach 
them that the qualities which they ought to cultivate 
must be implanted by him, and that whatever sem- 
blances of these may be exhibited by unrenewed men, 
are produced by no sound principle, influenced by no 
proper motive, and are devoid of all stability. You 
must excite them to plead for themselves that gracious 
promise, u I will put my Spirit within you, and I will 
cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my 
judgments and do them." 1 They must also be im- 
pressed with this truth, that it is by the influence of 
the Holy Ghost alone, that these virtues can be main- 
tained in opposition to the power of corruption, and to 
the evils of the world ; and that He is willing to aid 
their infirmities in prayer, and to advance grace to per- 
fection. 

You must likewise explain to them, that He is the 
Comforter whom Christ sends to cheer his disciples 
amidst all their sorrows ; and that by his influence mar- 
tyrs have gloried in tribulation, and the righteous hope 
in their death. To him they must look for support in 
every afflicting incident ; and you may assure them that 
the pious heart shall find him ready to relieve, when 
other comforters are silent, and other friends are no 
more. 

They may afterwards hear this light, grace and com- 
fort, ridiculed as the visions, the ardour, and the rap- 
tures of enthusiasm ; but these scoffs will only excite 
their horror and their pity ; horror at the impiety which 
thus blasphemes the source of all that is great and good, 
and pity for the ignorance and folly which is blind to 
the worth of that which can alone exalt and bless them. 
These views of the Holy Spirit will suggest the most 



c 



1 Ezek. xxxvl 27. 



18 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SERM. I* 

satisfying arguments for his Deity, and the most power- 
ful motives to love Him, and will preserve them from 
grieving Him by harbouring gross and malignant pre- 
judices, or by indulging sensual affections and vain 
thoughts. 

Finally, The young should be led to serious views 
of death, judgment, and eternity. To some, this may 
appear calculated to destroy the ardour of youth. They 
may assert, that were they to spend their days in the 
wilderness, or in the cloister, this would be a fit les- 
son for them ; but it will produce that gloominess of 
mind that loathes all the joys of life, and to which the 
necessary duties of society are a burden. But let us 
consider how many of the young will never mingle ei- 
ther in the pleasures or in the bustle of the world. 
Many of them, from feebleness of constitution, will, 
at the first exposure to cold or toil, fade away like 
plants too delicate to bear the tempests of our incle- 
ment sky ; and some will die of malignant diseases, 
while ie their breasts are full of milk, and their bones 
are moistened with marrow." 

Those whose days are prolonged, will be excited, by 
familiarity with death, to a diligent attention to the 
great business of life ; and if it keeps away the mirth 
of thoughtless levity, it will create a solid peace, which 
no disastrous incident can destroy. While death turns 
the scene of gaiety into a frightful solitary waste, it 
brings the pious man to the friends of his heart, and 
to the summit of his joy. 

The resurrection from the dead is a topic which will 
deeply interest children, especially when they are 4old 
that even the earliest victims of death shall be raised. 
The infant shall awake from its slumbers in the dust. 
The last sound which it heard was the burst of sorrow; 
the first it shall hear shall be the trump of God calling 



8ERM. f. EDUCATION OF THE YOUNS. tQ 

it to hail the approach of the Son of Man. It shall 
awake, not as you have often seen, to the cries of pain 
and terror, but to the smile of joy and to the song of 
triumph. 

But you must speak to them also of a judgment t© 
come, and shew them, that after the resurrection, we 
must all appear before the tribunal of the Lord Jesus, 
and that in this scene even those who died in child- 
hood must bear a part : " I saw the dead small and 
great stand before God, and the judgment was set, 
and the books were opened." 1 Assure them that wick- 
ed children will find no mercy in judgment, because 
their parents were religious ; nay, that their disregard 
of their instructions and their example will aggravate 
their condemnation ; but, on the other hand, that pa- 
rents will hail the children that were united to them 
in the faith and love of the gospel, " as dearly be- 
loved and longed for, their joy and their crown," and 
present them perfect in Christ Jesus. 

Lead their views to the heavenly world, where the 
good are for ever happy in their Father s house, and 
in a land where sin, and sorrow, and death, are un- 
known, where they are employed in the everlasting ce- 
lebration of their Redeemers love, where his image 
sheds over them the perfection of beauty, where there 
is social intercourse without jealousy or rivalship, per- 
petual worship without languor, and pleasures that ne- 
ver lose their relish. It is most delightful to behold 
the youthful heart panting for heaven, and the open- 
ing affections set on things above. In such views of 
heaven they will find sweet consolation in the death of 
their pious relations ; for they know that they are su- 
premely happy, and those alluring scenes of pleasure 



Rev, xx, 12, 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SERM. £ 



which fascinate the minds of the carnal, will solicit 
them in vain to turn aside to folly. 

It is necessary that you should sometimes speak to 
the young of the place of misery, where those who en- 
couraged each other in wickedness shall increase each 
others anguish ; where torture shall excite no pity, and 
the heart shall whisper no hope ; where the fools that 
made a mock at sin, and talked so warmly of its plea- 
sures, shall curse their madness amidst weeping and 
wailing and gnashing of teeth, and where " the smoke 
of their torment ascends up for ever and ever." 1 Warn 
them to flee from this doom. Can you be easy for one 
moment while they are on the way to hell, insensible of 
their danger, and heaping up wrath? 

With such views of a state of misery, temptation to 
sin will solicit them in vain with the fairest offers of en- 
joyment, and the companions with whom they associate 
will shew that, this is the strongest wish of their hearts, 
" Gather not my soul with sinners." 2 

When we reflect that we are not formed by our Crea- 
tor for this world merely, but for eternity, parents must 
perceive the folly of employing all their cares and la- 
bour in that education which has no value but in re- 
ference to this passing scene, and neglecting that which 
prepares for a blessed immortality. May we all look 
more seriously to things eternal, and we shall be more 
successful in guiding to them the views of those com- 
mitted to our care ! 

I have thus set before you the religious and moral 
instruction which you ought to impart to your children ; 
and the manner in which these lessons should be com- 
municated and enforced shall be the subject of the next 
discourse. 



1 Rev. xiv. 11. 



J Psal. xxvi. 9, 



SERMi II. EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. 



SERMON II. 

ON THE RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION OF 
THE YOUNG. 



Deut. vi. 6, 7. 

" And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in 
thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently to thy 
children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, 
and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and 
when thou risest up." 

PART SECOND. 

In a former Discourse, the religious and moral lessons 
were specified in which the young are to be instructed ; 
and I now proceed to point out the manner in which 
that. instruction should be communicated and enforced. 

1. The instructions which you communicate must 
flow from the heart. " These things," saith Moses in 
the text, " shall be in thine heart." Unless you feel a 
love of the truth, and a zealous concern to impart it, 
your lessons will be delivered in a manner so cold and 
careless, that your children will hear them with no in- 
terest. They easily discern, when you speak from con- 
viction and feeling. Instructions* which are marked 
by parental affection and pious solicitude, will awe the 
giddiest into attention, and soften the most stubborn. 
If, from deep impressions of the value and power of re- 
ligion, you assure them that, in your estimation, " wis- 
dom is the principal thing that the objects to which 
you claim their regard, you cherish in your own heart ; 



22 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SERM. II. 



that you would sooner part with life than with the 
hopes of the Gospel ; and that it will be the heaviest 
affliction you can feel, to see them turning away their 
ear from the voice that speaks from heaven, and from 
the counsels of a parent's love, — your children will be 
deeply affected, and what they have read or heard in 
commendation of godliness from others, will now ap- 
pear in irresistible energy. If they should ever be as- 
sociated with those who wish to persuade them that 
religion is the dream of folly, and its service the drud- 
gery of slaves, they will feel every consideration by 
which they repel this impious abuse, strengthened by 
the remembrance of your holy zeal, and nothing will 
move them from the determination, that what had the 
heart of their fathers shall have theirs. 

This love and zeal for religious truth is necessary to 
your diligent and persevering application to your duty ; 
and without such principles in the heart, it will be fre- 
quently neglected. In order to promote them, daily 
contemplate religious truth in its majesty and grace ; 
and as claiming not only the study, the assent, and 
the wonder of the understanding, but the reverence, 
the love, and the submission of the heart. Religious 
truth, thus known and felt, gives a skill and a pathos 
to the counsels of the unlearned, which are the best 
characters of eloquence, and the most powerful means 
of persuasion. 

2. The lessons of religion and morality should be 
taught with diligence. Much attention will be requi- 
site to find out the evil principles which are most like- 
ly to influence your children, and the quarter in which 
they are most vulnerable by temptation ; and when 
you are aware of these, you must labour to mortify 
their corrupt propensities, and to guard what is most 
exposed to danger. 



SERM. II. 



EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. 



You must be diligent also in tracing out those vir- 
tuous principles in which they are most likely to excel, 
and the obstacles by which these may be checked or 
perverted in the sphere of life in which they are to act ; 
and labour to give to these good affections and ten- 
dencies the culture which will strengthen them, and 
the direction which may ensure their safety. 

You must be diligent too in acquiring that measure 
of knowledge, which will fit you for imparting enlarged 
views of the Christian system to the expanding capaci- 
ties of your children. It is necessary, in order to their 
profiting by your lessons, that they should respect the 
judgment, as well as the piety of a parent. You must 
be able to obviate the difficulties which perplex them, 
and to poiut out the importance of the truths which 
they are disposed to undervalue, and the excellence of 
qualities to which they attach inferior worth. 

While engaged in instructing, you must beware of 
performing your task in a slovenly manner, or with 
symptoms of languor and impatience ; for if this is the 
case, your children will consider themselves entitled to 
regard it as a tiresome form. But if they mark your 
unabated earnestness, they will be ashamed and afraid 
to appear negligent ; your ardour will kindle theirs, and 
in spite of the proneness of the youthful mind to in- 
stability and levity, their attention will become fixed 
like yours. 

You must never think it enough to prevent the ap- 
pearance of wickedness in the life, but labour to subdue 
its power in the heart. He that wishes to destroy the 
noxious weeds of vice, must not think it sufficient to 
pluck off their leaves, or to cut down all of their stalk 
that is visible to the eye, but must tear up their roots, 
however deep, numerous, and extended. 

When the form of admonition and catechising is 



34 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SERM. II. 



gone over, you must inquire into its result. The an- 
swer is committed to memory, but is it understood ? 
The warning is heard, but is the danger seen and 
dreaded ? The pleasures of religion have been de- 
scribed, but are they relished ? You are quicksighted 
in discerning the negligence of other teachers whom 
you employ, and loud in your complaints against it, 
and can your consciences be silent if ye yourselves are 
careless ? You would be indignant at the charge of a 
want of diligence in your worldly business, and shall 
you be active in it, and slothful in forming your child- 
ren to wisdom ? If you are interested in this service 
as you ought to be, the toils of the day will be forgot- 
ten in the pleasures of this labour of love. Your dili- 
gence will animate them to the unwearied pursuit of 
truth and goodness, while the children of careless pa- 
rents are rendering themselves notorious for their craft 
and activity in wickedness. 

3. The young must be instructed frequently. You 
must teach them u when you sit in your house, and 
when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and 
when you rise up." In walking with them on the high- 
way or through the fields, there are many objects which 
call your attention to these lessons ; and in teaching 
them to contemplate the scenes of nature in the spirit 
of devotion, you will cherish in them a relish for the 
purest pleasures, and open to them a source of unfail- 
ing entertainment during the whole of life. They will 
recollect long after you are gone, the lessons which you 
taught them from the aspects of the various seasons, 
from the sky, and from the fields; from the instincts 
and habits of the lower animals ; and from the diversi- 
fy features of human enterprise and character. Amidst 
scenes full of the influence of the Deity, it would be 



SERM. II. EDUCATION OF THE YOL f NG. %b 

most criminal to be inattentive to his presence, and 
negligent in pointing out its striking indications. 

Your duty requires many of you to leave your dwell- 
ings early in the morning, yet go not forth till you have 
given, if it is possible, a serious counsel to the young. 
It may work in their minds during your absence, and 
will probably suggest such a thought as this, " My fa- 
ther's heart must be strongly set on my being wise and 
good, since he can never leave me without urging me 
to It." * The counsels which you recommend to them 
in the morning, will return to your remembrance, and 
solicit your own attention in a very interesting manner 
through the day. What claims the regard of your fa- 
mily fo\i will feel to be entitled to yours, nor will you 
be able to overlook that with which they are occupied 
through your counsel. 

In the evening, ere you retire to rest, forget not to 
ask how they have spent the day, and what improve- 
ment they have made since you left them. The idea 
of such an inquiry will be a powerful excitement to the 
diligence of your children. When you sit in your 
houses in the evening surrounded by your children, 
exert yourselves for their instruction. You will be far 
happier in teaching and admonishing your own fami- 
lies, than they are who spend their evenings in the 
houses of others, amidst the roar of mirth, and the 
wranglings of politics. To every good man home has 
peculiar allurements ; and the idea of his children pre- 
paring their tasks for his return, will make the affec- 
tionate parent avoid every unnecessary delay in going 
back to it when his work is accomplished. 

On the morning of the Lord's day, your instructions 
should commence as early as possible. God then 
gives you rest from labour of body, and calls on you 
to engage in the work of instruction with peculiar assi- 

c 



26 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SERM. II. 



duity. When you walk with }'our children to the 
house of God, let them not stray from your side, and 
let your conversation with them, or with others, be se- 
rious and edifying. Let a great part of the evening of 
the Lord's day be devoted to their instruction. The 
spirit excited in the temple of God will animate your 
labours, and the truths which you have heard will sug- 
gest materials for many interesting questions and ex- 
hortations. You have no right to relieve yourselves 
from any part of this duty, by devolving it on others ; 
for on you it is laid by the authority of God, and it is 
to your efforts that he has promised his blessing. Your 
children will be safest from temptation at your side, 
and no words can be so melting to their hearts as those 
that burn with a parent's love. It will always be found, 
that parents most attentive to this duty on the Sab- 
bath, prosper most in the graces and the pleasures of 
personal religion. 

Improve every incident that happens in the family, 
r»r in the neighbourhood, to enforce religious instruc- 
tion. If the hand of Providence hath been stretched 
forth to check the progress of disease, if virtuous prin- 
ciple has been maintained in trying circumstances, if 
fraud or violence have been defeated in their efforts to 
injure others, and if the hopes of religion have been 
the support and the triumph of the good in their last 
hour, you may, by such incidents as these, seal your 
instructions. I shall only state further on this topic 
this short maxim, " Let instruction be your daily task, 
and it will be your daily pleasure." 

4. Instruction should be communicated in a familiar 
manner. This is intimated by the phrase in the text, 
" Thou shalt talk." Your ideas must be expressed in 
simple language, and illustrated from objects with which 
they are acquainted. Lofty and learned terms, em- 



SERM. II. 



EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. 



27 



ployed in addresses to children, prove the weakness of 
the judgment, and the coldness of the heart. Your 
object is not to make children stare, but to cause them 
to understand, and it is not to gratify vain glory, but 
an earnest desire for their salvation. A desire of vain 
glory has been often imputed to the instructors of the 
young, though in many cases the charge has been dic- 
tated by malignant jealousy of their efforts to do good, 
and by the indolence which was unwilling to follow 
them ; but whatever may be the temptations of other 
teachers to the ostentatious display of knowledge and 
zeal, parents can be influenced by none ; for they la- 
bour in quiet seclusion from the inspection of the world : 
and they know, that it is only by discharging their 
duty with meekness of wisdom, that they will be i{ es- 
teemed for their works sake." 

The language in the text suggests, that your com- 
mon conversation in your dwellings should be instruc- 
tive and improving. Let nothing foolish or corrupting 
be heard at your hearth, and let the surmises of suspi- 
cion, the repinings of envy, the jests of wantonness, 
and the tales of calumny, be excluded from your do~ 
mestic circle. If every idle rumour that is circulated 
in the neighbourhood be told in your houses, children 
will acquire that gossipping habit, which will render 
them truly despicable, and the pests of the circles in 
which they move. Even where you have met with ill 
usage, detail it not before them with the exaggerations 
of resentment, lest you awaken in them malignant pas- 
sions, but teach them to love the benefactor and the 
friend of their father. 

It is necessary that, in this familial communication 
of knowledge, you guard against debasing religious 
truth by vulgar language, or low allusions. "Let your 
speech be always with grace." Many have been dug* 



28 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SERM. II. 



gusted at Religion when they saw her arrayed in a garb 
coarse and mean, who, if they had seen her in her 
" garments of wrought gold/' would have hailed her as 
the perfection of beauty. It is a great mistake to 
imagine, that you need not be scrupulous as to the 
language in which you explain or recommend reli- 
gion to children ; for it is peculiarly necessary that 
it should be grave and well ordered, as well as affec- 
tionate and perspicuous. In the discourses of our 
Lord, truth loses none of its dignity, while it appears 
marked by beautiful simplicity and melting tenderness. 
In teaching religion properly to children, the delicacy 
and the prudence of a pure and heavenly mind are es- 
sentially requisite. 

Take heed lest this familiarity lessen the reverence 
which your children owe to your authority and coun- 
sels. While you display the tenderness, never lose 
sight of the dignity of the parental- character. Your 
frowns at their folly will teach them to value your com- 
placency ; and they will feel more affection and joy 
in being permitted to grasp that hand, and to lean on 
that arm, which has corrected them for their folly. Let 
it be a familiarity so judicious, as to encourage dili- 
gence, but not so *weak and foolish as to embolden 
them to trifle with your instructions, or their duty. 

There are some other observations, which, though 
not implied in the text, it may be proper to set before 
you on this part of the subject. I remark, therefore, 
in the 5th place, that, by stating with propriety your 
own experience of the influence of religion, you may 
forcibly impress its lessons on the young. The pre- 
sent age. is distinguished by a peculiar eagerness to dis- 
close religious experiences. It is to be lamented that 
this has not always been done with due modesty and 
prudence ; and that, in some cases, circumstances are 



3ERM. it EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG; %9 

detailed which were unfit for public view, and that in 
others the freaks of enthusiasm are held up as the 
mind of Christ, and its hasty raptures as the impulse of 
the Spirit. But when parents tell their children what 
God hath done for their souls, it will be in the words 
of truth and soberness. They will shrink from boast- 
ing of an intercourse with Jesus, of which they can 
give no proof in their temper and manners, and from 
expressing a hope in God, which they deny by their 
impatience in trouble, and their employing unlawful 
methods of deliverance. It is a much more difficult 
task for a hypocrite to maintain the appearance of re- 
ligious fervour amidst the familiarities and the minute 
inspection of his family than before the world. 

It is not my wish that you should disclose to your 
children all your feelings, but such only as are adapted 
to lead them to love and to serve the God of their fa- 
ther. In calling them to taste and see that God is 
good, it is surely meet that you should tell them how, 
good he has been to you. Some of you perhaps can 
state to them, that when you were uncertain what 
course to pursue, and when the friends, whose coun- 
sel you solicited, differed in opinion as to the path 
you should take, you sought direction from God, 
and he led you in the way of peace. Others can state, 
that when their worldly prospects were gloomy, 
when they were involved in the most painful embar- 
rassments, and when they were tempted to extricate 
themselves by the sacrifice of integrity, they sought 
the Lord, and he gave them virtuous firmness, and 
raised up friends who relieved them from their diffi- 
culties. The parent who has ei obtained mercy," can 
shew, that when he was overwhelmed by the horrors 
of guilt, Jesus appeared to him mighty to save, raised 
him up while he lay trembling at his feet, and ad- 



30 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SERM. IK 

dressed to him such promises of grace, as yielded him 
inexpressible consolation. How dear to children will 
the texts be, by which, while he was sinking in despair, 
a compassionate Saviour inspired him with hope ! Ma* 
ny parents can tell their children, that, while they 
watched by their sick-bed, God was with them in the 
time of trouble, and that, while they followed their bro- 
thers or their sisters to the grave, the hope of immor- 
tality was so strong within them, that they could re- 
joice in the thought, that it would not be long till they 
should join them in heaven. There is not a good man 
but may state, that when he was most active he was 
most happy, and that the best cordial of his affliction 
was the patience of hope. Now such simple, but af- 
fecting details of experience, are happily adapted to 
produce in children confidence in Providence, faith in 
the blood of Christ, and a stedfast adherence to the 
laws of holiness. They are remembered for these ends 
long after their parents are gone. " Our fathers 
trusted in thee, they trusted, and thou didst deliver 
them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered ; 
they trusted in thee, and^ were not confounded 1 and 
we will trust in thee, for thou wilt be to us what thou 
hast been to them. The kindness of the great to their 
ancestors is carefully remembered in families. The 
picture or the ring, the book or the letter, which was 
the pledge of their regard, is* preserved with anxious 
care from generation to generation ; but much more 
worthy of remembrance are the testimonies which they 
received of Jehovah's friendship. 

These remarks will satisfy you, that I have no wish 
that the reveries of enthusiasm should be exhibited to 
children ; for this will either divest their religion of 



J Psalm xxii. 4, 5. 



3ERM. IX. 



3* 



every character of a reasonable service, or prepare 
them for joining in the laugh of the scorner. Open 
your heart to them with wisdom, and express the feel* 
ings of a grateful and enlightened piety to those who 
will magnify the Lord with you, and who will find a 
strong argument for the reality of experimental reli- 
gion, in the recollection of the counsel which guided 
your steps, and the communion that filled you with 
gladness. 

6. Your instructions must be enforced by a suitable 
example. Could you speak with the tongues of angels 
in praise of religion, and did you warn against im- 
piety and vice both day and night with tears, yet if 
your conduct is stained by any of the works of the 
flesh, it will be vain to expect any happy result from 
your labour. On the other hand, when the goodness 
that shines in a parent's lessons reigns in his life, its 
influence will be most powerful, and your instructions 
will have all the weight which they can derive from 
the fullest persuasion of your sincerity and excellence. 

Piety appears most venerable in a father's devotion, 
and love to Christ most delightful in a mother's praise. 
No where does integrity seem so noble, as in a father's 
abhorrence of all that is base and deceitful ; nor cha- 
rity so lovely, as in a mother's sympathy with the 
mourner. No where does patience appear more amia- 
ble, than in their silence while in agony ; nor faith 
more triumphant, than in the support which it gives 
them in their last struggle, and in their last farewell. 

The remembrance of your excellencies will keep your 
children stedfast in goodness, when multitudes are fall- 
ing away; and urge them forward in the path of duty, 
when indolence or timidity say that it is impossible to 
proceed. The heart will glory in the thought, " My 
father was a good man, and my mother a Christian in* 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SERM. II. 



deed." The titles of nobility deserve not to be com- 
pared with such a character. The poor saint may have 
no tombstone to tell his worth, but his children will 
read it on the tables of their hearts, and hear it from 
the lips of all around. Impious and wicked parents 
may think with horror, that their children will never 
hear the name of God without remembering how they 
profaned it ; nor of the miseries of a future state, with- 
out the frightful thought, that they despised their ter- 
rors. But the pious parent knows that the Sabbath, as it 
returns, shall remind his children of his care to sanc- 
tify it, and that, when heaven shall be the subject of 
discourse, he has a testimony in their consciences that 
his heart was there. 

It would be easy to state instances of the happy in~ 
fluence of the remembrance of a pious parent's exam- 
ple. The remembrance of a mother's virtue has made 
the young man turn away his eye from the harlot's 
smile, and the idea of a father glorying in the cross of 
Christ has closed his ear against all the taunts of infidel 
scorn. The recollection of a parent's excellencies has 
deepened the penitence of the prodigal when he was 
brought to reflection, cherished the pious ardour which 
the world seemed likely to chill, and maintained cir- 
cumspection in conduct, when it was ridiculed as weak 
and ostentatious scrupulosity. 

It is natural for the young to mark with veneration 
the traces of those excellencies in a parent's character, 
which accord with their peculiar predilections and ha- 
bits. The children of the brave kindle at the remem- 
brance of their fathers' gallantry., and view, with exul- 
tation, its bright memorials in the monumental inscrip- 
tion and in the historic page. The sword with which 
they fought, and the standards which they took, are 
precious relics of their valour and patriotism. " From. 



SERM. II. EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. , 33 

the blood of the slain, and from the fat of the mighty, 
the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword 
of Saul returned not empty/' 2 But more dear, because 
more valuable, is the remembrance of a parent's humi- 
lity, self-denial, and active charity, to a heart devoted 
to goodness. 

Your holy conduct will give you a confidence and a 
pleasure in the work of instruction, to which he must 
be a stranger whose conscience challenges him with a 
violation of those laws which he inculcates as rules of 
practice to his family. Children will be ashamed to 
make any objection against those services of religion 
which you perform with regularity and pleasure. The 
example of parents conciliates regard to the hardest 
precepts. They will, not deem that worship a weariness 
which to you is a delight, nor that yoke galling which 
to you is easy. This thought will be found a very 
strong defence of the principles and the virtue of chil* 
dren, that their parents were all that they enjoined 
them to be ; and that their whole conduct will not fur- 
nish an apology for one criminal act, or a single circum- 
stance which would mitigate the censure of the world 
for their acting in a manner unworthy of such ances- 
tors. These holy friends in glory form a part of the 
cloud of witnesses that surround us ; from them the 
most refreshing moisture descends ; and with them, in 
our view, we can neither be languid in our duty, nor 
unfaithful to our vows. 

Finally. Prayer to God must accompany all your 
instructions. You must pray that your children may be 
enlightened by the spirit of wisdom ; that their tempers 
may be softened by the grace of meekness ; that their 
hearts may be sanctified by the washing of regenera- 



* 2 Sam. i. 22. 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SERM. II. 



tion ; that their education may be blessed by the care 
of heaven, and their lives adorned with the fruits of 
holiness. Let these prayers be sometimes put up be* 
fore them. In such a situation, the young will be led to 
such reflections as these, " Can I continue an enemy 
to that God whose mercy a parent is now imploring for 
me ? Can I cherish these evil propensities, the de- 
struction of which he now supplicates ? Shall I despise 
those graces which he intreats the Father of goodness 
to work in me ? or turn away my ear from that law 
which he wishes may be written on my heart ?" It is 
easy to see what influence such impressions will have 
in producing abhorrence of sin and zeal for holy at- 
tainments. 

Prayer will sweeten your labours, animate your per- 
severance, and obtain for you the success you wish. 
Children would think themselves entitled to entertain 
great hopes of wealth and preferment, if various peti- 
tions in their behalf had been laid by their parents be- 
fore an earthly prince, who was strongly attached to 
them. Every day they would expect some favourable 
return to these ; but what is the power, the wealth, or 
the friendship of kings, to the riches of the Almighty's 
goodness ? and from your prayers they will be led to 
hope that God will bless them with grace and glory, 
and to look for these in the mode which he has prescri- 
bed. 

The prayers of parents are admirably calculated to 
form their children to devotion. Your air of reverence, 
and your tones of earnest supplication, will render them 
steady and serious. The petitions which you address 
to the Most High will direct them how to pray ; and 
they may bear a more important share in the service 
than you are aware. There have been children who 
could say, " My heart speaks to God while my father 



S'ERM. II. EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. $5 

is praying, and while I kneel beside my mother, my 
soul follows hers to the throne of grace." Your confes- 
sions of guilt and depravity will teach them to mourn 
over their secret faults ; your admiration of the Lord 
Jesus will incline them to the study of his character ; 
and your earnest supplications for divine aid will make 
them feel their own insufficiency, and dispose them to 
rely on the grace of Christ. 

But you must pray for them in secret. You must 
have them on your hearts when you go into the cham- 
ber of retirement, and fill your mouths with arguments 
in pleading for their souls. These prayers, though un- 
known to your children, may have the happiest influ- 
ence on their comfort and improvement. Many a pa- 
rent who has been taken away from his children when 
they were young and tender, has, in the prospect of 
separation, brought them in the prayer of faith to Jesus, 
and commended them to his gracious and constant 
care. Elevation in prayer has been the last act of the 
feeble hands, and a cry for mercy to them the last 
sound of the failing voice, and the request has been 
answered in their enjoyment of the protection and 
guidance of Jehovah, long after that tongue and these 
arms were dust. It is a most soothing thought to 
the children of religious parents now departed, that 
when their heart rose to heaven it never left them be- 
hind ; and that God blesses them for their sake. The 
comforts of the lot of children thus seem pledges 
of remembrance and mercy, sent from the place where 
they now are ; and the Christian virtues of their lives 
attest the labours of those who have entered into rest. 

Your Saviour, pre-eminent as he was in the work of 
instruction, always accompanied his lessons with pra}^er. 
The ministers of religion, treading! n his steps, implore, 
before and after they engage in teaching, his influence, 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SERM. II. 



who alone can give wisdom. Imitate such exam pi es, 
and you may be assured of this, that the more earnest- 
ly you plead with God for the salvation of your chil- 
dren, the more diligent will you be in working out your 
own ; and that the affection which is expressed in prayer 
is most likely to be wisely manifested in your intercourse 
with your family, and to be a blessing in its exercise to 
your own hearts. Were we to ask a dying parent to 
tell us what were the happiest hours he had spent with 
his children, if he is a man of God, this will probably 
be his answer, ie Those in which I was employed in 
praying with them." May God incline all parents to 
relish this felicity, and pour down upon all your dwell- 
ings the Spirit of grace and of supplication. Amen. 



SERM. III. EDUCATION OP THE YOUNG. 



SERMON III. 

6N THE RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION OF 

THE YOUNG. 

Deut. vi. 6, T. 

«* And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in 
thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently to thy child- 
ren, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, 
and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and 
when thou risest up." 

PART THIRD. 

I have staged in two discourses in what the young 
should be instructed, and the manner in which that in* 
struction should be communicated and enforced. I now 
proceed to recommend the duty enjoined in the text 
by some motives. 

1. Let parents consider that the vows of God are 
upon them. When your children were baptized, you 
acknowledged that it was your duty to train them up 
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord ; and so* 
lemnly engaged before God and his church to perform 
it. And can your conscience permit you to be inatten* 
tive to the best interests of the children of your vows ? 
If it is silent, your brethren around you will contrast 
your failures in parental duty, with your solemn pledge ; 
or should the frequent disregard of such engagements 
protect you from public censure, know assuredly that 

D 



38 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SERM. III. 



there is a God in heaven to whom you have opened 
your mouths, and who wfll not suffer you to go back 
with impunity. Consider every administration of bap- 
tism which you witness as a monitor to diligence, and 
never hurry away ere this ordinance is dispensed. Stand 
still and hear what God requires of you, and what 
ought to be done by you with all your might. 

The practice of infant baptism commends itself to 
the hearts of the good, from its tendency to bind the 
conscience to fidelity and diligence in parental duty ; 
and there is nothing better adapted to furnish its oppo- 
nents with materials for plausible declamation on its 
utter inutility, than the inattention of parents to its 
solemn obligations. If the arguments in favour of in- 
fant baptism, various and powerful though they are, 
be not supported by the exemplary conduct of parents, 
it will soon be considered by many as an empty form, 
sanctioned only by custom and prejudice, and unworthy 
of the reasonings and the zeal with which it has been 
maintained. 

2. Consider the examples which are set before you, 
to direct and encourage you in this duty. Think of 
Abraham, of whom Jehovah thus speaks when he would 
give that view of his character which was a reason why 
he honoured him with peculiar marks of his complacen- 
cy, f - I know him that he will command his children to 
keep the ways of the Lord, and to do justice and judg- 
ment." 1 Think of David, and of his pious zeal in this 
respect. Amidst the cares of a throne, the instruction 
of his family was not neglected. " Come ye children, 
hearken unto me, and I will teach you what it is to fear 
the Lord." 2 Think of Solomon, and of his grateful 
and tender recollection of the counsels of his mother, 



1 Gen. xviii. 19. 



2 F&al xxxiv. II. 



•SERM. 'II. EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. S% 

and of the prominent^plade whjch he assigns to them in 
his lessons of \fy$$®ir{s Think of the parents of Timo- 
thy, to who^ it is' in part to be ascribed that their son 
from aVcJiii^knew the holy Scriptures. These are ex- 
amples ' left: by persons whom the wise and the good 
Jhave uniformly venerated. 

Wherever we contemplate the heathen world; whe- 
ther we view its manners as sketched by ancient or 
modern writers, we behold parents carefully training 
their children to the worship of the idols whom their 
fathers had taught them to venerate, and to the habits 
to which they had been formed. Rites against which 
nature remonstrated, have thus-been transmitted from 
age to age. And shall heathen parents shew more zeal 
to maintain the honour of their false gods, than you to 
exhibit to your children the high praises of Jehovah ? 

But many of you had parents who were most exem* 
plary in this duty, and they rise at this moment before 
your hearts, and call on you to act as they did. You 
now think of the time when your soul melted at a mo- 
ther's intreaties, and when your cheeks were wet with a 
mother's tears, as she hung over you in tender solicitude 
for your salvation. Your memories are now calling up 
the lessons which your father gave you as you stood by 
his knees, and the words which he put into your mouths 
when he taught you to pour out your hearts before the 
Lord ; and does the recollection awaken no strong im- 
pulse to this duty ? Can you take into your hands the 
books from which a father instructed you, or occupy the 
place from which he gave you " goodly words," with- 
out feeling yourselves constrained to imitate his pious 
exertions ? If there are any of you who never enjoyed 
parental instruction, testify your gratitude to Him who 
raised up friends to teach you the way of the Lord, by 
peculiar activity in this work of piety and love. 



40 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



J2TRM. III. 



3. Consider how much the success and the happiness 
of your children in life depend on }'our early care. 
Nothing is so likely to secure success in any business 
or profession, as industry and sobriety, justice and truth. 
And you know how much happiness depends on the 
state of the mind, and on the nature of the habits. 
Evil passions will make the heart wretched in the midst 
of honours and abundance, while piety and contentment 
will keep the soul in peace in every affliction. Habits 
of fickleness and indolence, precipitance and indecision, 
will involve men in perplexities, losses and disgrace, 
from which they would have been preserved by steadi- 
ness, activity, and foresight, and by a determined ad- 
herence to that line of conduct which prudence sanc- 
tions, in spite of every appeal that is made to the feel- 
ings. 

By the counsels of religion, you secure for them a 
companion and a monitor, who will abide with them 
when you depart to the Father, and who will talk with 
them when you are silent in the grave. It will be de- 
lightful to you if you live to see them settled in the 
world, to hear them ascribe their success to the bles- 
sing of heaven on your early care, and saying that it 
was from you they learned that confidence in God 
which made them persevere in their calling in spite of 
every difficulty ; that meekness and gentleness which 
conciliated their opponents, and those habits of sobrie- 
ty and diligence which have secured them respect and 
prosperity. 

I do not say that such early lessons will certainly 
produce the conversion of the young ; but they have 
often had this result. Many have been led to fear the 
Lord from their youth, under the pious care of parents ; 
and such conversions are the least liable of all others to 
the misconstruction of the men of the world. The hap- 



SERM. M. EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. 



41 



piest converts are such early ones. How abundant is 
their share of the blessings of religion, and how sweet 
is it to hear its voice in their early prayers ; to see it 
applying their hearts to wisdom, an d to behold them 
in their entrance on the world influenced by heavenly 
objects ! Even where the conversion of the children of 
the pious does not take place, till long after their pa* 
rents are gone, the remembrance of their warnings and 
intreaties increases the power and the alarm of convic- 
tions, and contributes to soften their hearts. 

4. I appeal to your regard to the church, and to 
your country. You express ardent wishes for the 
prosperity of Zion ; but none will believe that you are 
sincere if you do not train up your children to plead 
her cause. Can you bear the thought that the institu- 
tions which you delighted to support will be deserted 
by your children ; that the errors in principle, and the 
violations of duty against which you lifted up your 
voice, will be sanctioned by them ; and that from the 
fellowship of the saints into which you introduced them, 
they will withdraw to surround the seat of the scorner 
who ridicules all religion, or become the disciples of 
those who, retaining the name of Christians, bring in 
damnable heresies, subversive of all that is glorious and 
dear in the Gospel ? It is by judicious and pious in- 
struction that you will keep them from the arts of de- 
ceivers. 

Many noble plans are forming and executing at pre- 
sent for the extension of the Redeemers kingdom. 
Your hearts burn with eager desire that men may be 
blessed in him ; but it cannot be expected that such 
designs will be followed up by those that succeed you/ 
if they are not taught the value of the Gospel. The 
eloquence that now pleads for the Bible will soon be si- 
lent in the grave, and the heart lie cold in the dust 

1 



42 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SERM. IIL 



that now bleeds for the miseries of unenlightened na- 
tions ; but the Saviour shall have hearts warmer in his 
cause, and tongues more eloquent in his praise ; and 
you wish that, in your zeal and your efforts, you may be 
exceeded by the rising race. Let then the duty of ex- 
ertion for the spread of the Gospel form a part of your 
lessons, and teach them to devote a portion of their 
little savings to this end ; and thus you will guard them 
against avarice and profusion, and lead them to honour 
God with their substance. 

Think, too, of your country, which Providence hath 
preserved so wonderfully from the convulsions which 
have ruined the happiness of so many nations. And 
our security has been owing, in some measure, to the 
habits in which our people have been trained. Let 
piety and benevolence, contentment and order, sobrie- 
ty and industry, continue to be the lessons of our fa- 
milies and schools ; and Britain shall flourish in the 
sight of her enemies, and her glory shall shine from 
generation to generation. 

Scotland has been long distinguished for the intelli- 
gence and activity, the religious and moral principles 
of her sons. The candid and enlightened of other na- 
tions have, in the most public manner, acknowledged 
this ; and to what is this high distinction owing ? It is 
to our parochial schools, to the labours of our minis- 
ters, and to the pious care of parents. Those teach- 
ers, who are inattentive to their duty, do what they 
can to deprive the land that gave them birth of its 
highest praise. If our youth were to be left to grow 
up without religious and moral instruction, they would 
be the dupes of impostors, who would cajole them into 
the wildest fooleries of enthusiasm, and of demagogues, 
who would excite them to the most horrid excesses ox 
licentiousness and cruelty. 



BERM. III. EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. 43 

5. I may plead with you, from the regard which you 
feel for your own credit and happiness. Impious, pro- 
fligate and thriftless children will be the bitterest of 
your sorrows. Their follies, which you may now think 
only fit to be laughed at, will soon become troublesome 
and disgraceful to you. Their carelessness in the com* 
mon branches of education will justify the fear, that 
they will never be fit for any respectable profession or 
business. The fraud and the falsehood which they em- 
ploy to overreach their companions, will torment you 
with the suspicion, that, in their future transactions, 
their aim will be to ensnare. Such children will waste 
your substance, despise your controul, and associate 
with companions, and engage in courses, which will as- 
suredly lead them to infamy, wretchedness, and death. 
There are dwellings over which a cloud rests. There 
are fathers, to whom society is a burden, on whose 
face a blush will kindle when any allusion is made to 
their family, who feel that for their sorrow there is no 
consolation, and who, in hopeless grief and shame, be- 
seech the Almighty to hide them in the grave. There 
are mothers, who envy those that never knew a pa- 
rent's cares, and wish that in their face no babe had 
ever smiled. And what is the cause of these horrors ? 
Their children grew up only to cover them with dis- 
honour, and to break their hearts, and their consciences 
accuse them of their negligence in parental duty, and 
their thoughtless indulgence as leading them to ruin. 

On the other hand, virtuous children are the honour 
of their parents. There is no friend on whom the old 
man can lean with such pleasure as on the son in whom 
the kind affections are strengthened by Christian prin- 
ciple ; and no where is the aching head so easy as on 
the pillow which filial piety has smoothed. Such a 



44 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SERM. III. 



parent can hope that his children will see him buried 
with his fathers, that they will mark his grave as the 
place where they wish their flesh to rest, and where their 
dust and his shall be reunited ; that the purposes on 
which his heart is set they will fulfil ; that they will 
never dishonour the name which they bear ; that he 
will live in their affectionate remembrance ; and that 
what he has been to them they will be to their offspring. 
Where these hopes are warranted by the previous dis« 
cipline which has often formed to wisdom and good- 
ness, there is the highest probability that they will be 
realized ; and it discovers as little sagacity as benevo- 
lence to ridicule them as the fond dreams of a weak 
and credulous mind. 

6. The common neglect of this duty should excite 
you to perform it. In some schools the Bible and the 
Catechism have been laid aside, and morning and even- 
ing prayers are discontinued. The mode of education 
is, in some respects, improved ; but it is to be regret- 
ted, that practices are falling into disuse, which impres- 
sed the young with the presence of God, and connected 
preparation for eternity with u the rudiments of the 
world." 

Among the middle classes of life, a great eagerness 
is felt to have children taught the fashionable accom- 
plishments of the higher ranks ; but there is reason to 
fear, that, while the showy branches of education are 
sought after with so much care, the more solid and 
useful are neglected. The blossoms give a transitory 
beauty to the tree, but it is on its fruit that we rest 
our idea of its value. These gaudy and expensive 
branches of education will be of little use in future life ; 
they may give the young a disrelish for the sober oc- 
cupations in which they must engage, and render them 



SERM. III. EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. 45 



discontented, indolent, and disliked, in scenes where, 
with other ideas and habits, they might have been use- 
ful, respected, and happy. 

Many in the lower ranks discover the utmost care- 
lessness with respect to the instruction of their chil- 
dren. They will neither teach them the fear of God, 
nor send them where it is taught. While pious men, 
in almost every place, form institutions for the instruc- 
tion of neglected children, and, from commiseration 
and holy zeal, subject themselves to expence and toil 
in communicating knowledge,—- there are parents so 
lost to all ideas of its value, and to all concern about 
the true welfare of their families, that, instead of urg- 
ing their attendance, they will rather suffer them to 
follow their amusements on the streets and in the fields. 
Now, by the religious and moral education of your fa- 
milies, you will bear testimony against these abuses * 
you may impress some around you, and you will " de- 
liver your own souls/' 

7. Think on the efforts which are now made to cor- 
rupt the rising generation. Books are published, in 
which the most important parts of a religious education 
are ridiculed and condemned, 'as damping the best 
energies of the youthful mind, and training it to the 
cant, the sullenness, and the fury of fanaticism. Wick- 
ed men wish to check the instilling of Christian prin- 
ciple, that the young may with less difficulty receive 
their impious sophistiy. If the lessons of religion are 
not taught, vice and folly will seize on the unoccupied 
mind, and acquire an influence there which no future 
exertions may be able to subdue. 

There are publications designed for the young, which, 
by their pictures, their narratives, and their delinea- 
tions of character, are fitted to corrupt the heart. There 
is not a more horrid prostitution of genius and the 



46 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SERM. III. 



arts, than when they are employed in vitiating their 
morals, and inflaming their passions. Even in many 
of the books which are written to amuse them, scenes 
are delineated which may produce dangerous impres- 
sions. Serpents full of deadly poison lurk among these 
flowers, whose smell is so sweet, and whose tints are 
so beautiful. 

Let parents be excited, by this sad detail, to teach 
their children the pure lessons of truth and virtue from 
the oracles of God ; and let the eagerness of the wick- 
ed to ensnare and to destroy, animate your zeal to en- 
lighten and to save. 

The piety of good men has led some of them to 
compose a variety of small pieces, adapted to engage 
the attention of the young, by the interesting manner 
in which religion is exhibited. These tracts are circu- 
lated so copiously, and in so cheap a form, that no fa- 
mily can complain that they are beyond their reach. 
Let the gift of these stimulate or reward the diligence 
of children, and we trust that they will quickly banish 
from the dwellings of the lower classes tales and bal- 
lads, replete with folly and corruption. 

8. Consider what comfort the discharge of your duty 
will yield you in the death of children. There are few 
families in which all the children arrive at maturity, 
and it often happens, that those who are deemed the 
most promising are taken away. Now, there is no- 
thing that can comfort in the hour of their removal 
like the testimony of conscience, that you did what 
you could to prepare them for death, and the hope that 
your labour was not in vain. How soothing is it to 
think on the melting of their hearts when you spoke to 
them of the sufferings of Christ, on the wisdom and 
fervour of their prayers, on their regard to things eter- 
nal, on the purity of their wishes, and the meekness of 



SERM. III. 



EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG 



47 



their spirits ! The flower is gone, but it hath left a 
sweet fragrance behind that refreshes the fainting heart. 
You have heard parents, when bereft of children, dwell- 
ing, in the hour of separation, on the evidences of di- 
vine grace in their temper and manners, and repeating 
their sweet expressions of piety and hope. And could 
a parent wish to detain such a child from heaven, or 
can he sorrow for him as those who have no hope ? 

Very different from such a parent's feelings are his, 
who can go no farther than a trembling hope with re- 
gard to the felicity of a departed child, and whose mind 
is tortured with anxious thoughts about its eternal des- 
tiny. And how opposite are the feelings of the parent 
who hath conscience for the comforter of the house of 
mourning, to his, who can think of nothing to repel or 
to soften the conclusion, that his child is lost for ever ; 
and whose heart reproaches him with the utter neglect 
of its spiritual interests and eternal salvation. 

Finally, Great shall be the reward in heaven of 
every faithful and pious parent. You will be rewarded 
in the happiness of your children, and their felicity 
will be a great addition to your own. You are de- 
lighted at seeing them happy here ; and, even in sea- 
sons of sadness, your hearts are lightened at the sight 
of their artless gaiety. Alas ! the days of youth may 
be followed by few as fair and smiling as they are. 
But, when you see them in heaven, you shall behold 
them supremely blessed, and blessed beyond the fear 
of change, and the reach of woe. 

I do not say, that the condemnation of wicked chil- 
dren will mar the happiness of the good ; for no feeling 
can arise in heaven to trouble their rest, nor can they 
ever wish that God had acted otherwise than he has 
done. It is difficult for us to conceive how a parent 
can acquiesce in the condemnation of a wicked child, 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SERM. III. 



though we know that this must 4)e the case, from the 
perfect conformity to which their will shall then be 
brought to the divine. But how different must that 
acquiescence be, from the rapture of a parent happy in 
a child's obtaining mercy, and seeing it clasped in the 
Saviour's arms. If it gratifies you to see your children 
noticed by the great and good, and their accomplish- 
ments and performances applauded, your feelings must 
rise to the highest pitch of delight, when you behold 
them sitting at Christ's side, and hear him addressing 
to them the language of approbation and complacency. 

But there are other rewards which shall be bestowed 
on those by whom souls are won. The blood of chil- 
dren that perish shall be required of negligent parents, 
and their accusations and curses shall be the most ter- 
rible sound they can hear in the place of woe. They 
will not omit in their upbraidings a single neglect of 
which their parents were guilty, any evil practice which 
they sanctioned, nor one emotion friendly to serious- 
ness which they checked ; and conscience will ratify 
the charge, and make them feel that they deserve the 
damnation of hell. But pious and faichful parents will 
find, that not a tear has been lost, nor a prayer unre- 
corded, and that he who consoled them in their la- 
bours here will crown them with everlasting glory in 
the family of heaven. Their sleepless nights and pain- 
ful efforts will be much more than compensated by the 
fulness of joy. And while Jehovah manifests that he 
has not forgotten their labour of love, their children 
will bear to them their grateful testimony. They will 
magnify the goodness of God in giving them parents, 
whose care and kindness secured them so many days 
of comfort on earth, and whose counsels, example, and 
prayers, contributed so much to guide their steps to 
heaven. Kow delightful will be the intercourse be- 



SERM. III. EDUCATION OF THE YOUNft. 4§ 

twixt such parents and such children in our Father's 
house, when every gracious principle which they la- 
boured to cultivate is perfected, and when the kind af- 
fections work together with the Spirit of glory ! 

I shall conclude this subject with some reflections 
and exhortations. 

1. What a blessing to the young has the Bible been! 
Happy are the families that dwell under its shadow. 
If we survey countries where Christianity is professed, 
we see parents forming their children to views, habits, 
and practices, adapted to prepare them for usefulness 
here, and for glory hereafter. We behold hospitals, 
where the orphan finds the lessons, and the care of pa- 
rents supplied by the kindness of the benevolent, and 
schools where the children of the poor are led into the 
paths of wisdom and righteousness. It is in the spirit 
of the Gospel that these originate. Christianity che« 
rishes infancy in its fostering bosom ; but how is it 
treated by heathen superstition ? Think on the dread- 
ful accounts given both by ancient and modern histo- 
rians of the behaviour of the heathen to children. When 
the Israelites adopted the horrible idolatries of the Ca- 
naanites, they sacrificed their sons and daughters to 
their gods. Such was their infatuation, that they 
abandoned the service of Him who promised, that if 
they were willing and obedient, he would be their God, 
and the God of their seed, for that of idols, who de- 
manded the fruit of their bodies as their most valued 
offering, and whose grim faces were often smeared 
with the blood of infants. Among a tribe in the East, 
it was the practice till lately to starve female infants to 
death. Multitudes of children are hung up there in 
baskets on trees, and left to be devoured by ants or 
birds of prey, and many of them are encouraged by 
their parents to wade into the deep waters of the Gan- 

F. 



j0 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SERM. OS, 

ges, and deserted by them the moment they begin to 
float, that they may be sacrifices to the deity of the 
river. The exposing of infants, so common now in 
China, was practised in the most polished cities of an- 
tiquity ; and those children were cast out whose sickli- 
ness might have been supposed to interest most power- 
fully the mother's heart. In these seats of science, pa- 
rents were taught to consider themselves as invested 
with despotic authority in their families, and they were 
allowed by law to dispose of the lives and the liberties 
of their children at their pleasure. Children were 
taught to steal with dexterity, and trained up in all the 
disgusting fooleries and lascivious excesses of Pagan 
worship. Let the young rejoice that they live under 
the grace and truth that came by Jesus Christ ; a reli* 
gion full of mercy, and which, by its fruits, its com- 
forts, and its hopes, adorns and blesses human nature 
to a degree far transcending the loftiest ideas of unen- 
lightened reason. 

2. Le t parents lay up in their memories the coun- 
sels and motives which they have heard. On a 
subject so interesting to you as this, it may reasonably 
be expected, that you will " keep these sayings, and 
ponder them in your hearts." Listen to no sugges- 
tions that would detach you from your duty. If you 
are tempted to think, that the laborious nature of your 
employment will be an excuse for your negligence, re- 
member that, to a well disposed heart, this duty 
will be a refreshment after toil, and that the discharge 
of it will make you proceed in your worldly business 
with more spirit and vigour. Plead not the want of 
time. The most busy among you has leisure for this, 
and for other duties of domestic religion ; and though 
your attention to this service should abridge the com- 
forts you might otherwise have procured, the gain that 



9ERM. III. EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. 



SJ 



arises from it is worth infinitely more than the sacri- 
fice. 

Let none urge that they are not qualified for this 
task. There are many excellent catechisms which you 
can employ ; and if you are at due pains with them, 
you will assuredly promote your own improvement. 
And let none plead as an excuse for the neglect of this 
duty, that they commit their children to the care of 
others ; for their diligence will not be sustained as an 
apology for your sloth, and your zealous co-operation, 
with those to whom you entrust them would be amply 
rewarded in the rapidity of their progress. 

Desist not from this task from the want of success. 
Your labours may have an influence of which } r ou are 
not aware. If vicious passions are curbed, though holy 
dispositions are not implanted, a great object is gained. 
" Let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season 
we shall reap if we faint not." 1 The seed may spring 
up, and shake v/ith prosperous fruit, when you are in 
your graves; and you shall know this in heaven, and 
shall mingle in the joy which the sinner's repentance 
produces among the angels of God. 

Let the instructions which you give to your children 
be such as you can think of with comfort in a dying 
hour. The sectarian prejudices and antipathies which 
some instil into their children's minds, form a temper 
very opposite to that of the Gospel. You are bound 
to teach them all that is sanctioned by the word of 
Christ ; but encourage not malevolent feelings towards 
those who differ from you, and let their attention be 
especially directed to " the weightier matters of the 
law." I would again beseech you to take heed to your 
ways. It will be truly dreadful, if the children of any 



1 Gal. vi. 9. 



52 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL 



SERM. HI. 



of you are forced, in spite of their wish, to think well 
of 3^011 when }'ou are gone, to reflect on the terror 
which your excesses, of passion spread through your 
dwelling, and on the disgust which they felt when 
they saw you brought to it in a state of intoxication. 
The counsels of such a parent can have no good influ- 
ence. And pray always. To hear it said that you never 
prayed for them, would be a charge which you could 
Kot endure ; but there may be ground for such a re- 
flection as this from your children, that you prayed not 
for them so often as you ought. 

Be attentive to the temporal comfort of your chil- 
dren. Give them no reason to conclude, that your 
anxiety for the welfare of their souls renders you indif- 
ferent to their worldly interests ; or to say that parents, 
who have no profession of religion, do more to make 
their children happy than you have done. Do not 
spend the substance that ought to go to your descen- 
dants in needless indulgences to yourselves ; and while 
you are desirous to obtain for them the blessings of 
the divine favour, cultivate for your family the friend- 
ship of the wise and good. Among them may be. found 
a comforter for your old age, and a guardian to your 
children. 

3. Let little children be thankful to God, if they 
have parents who teach them the good ways of the 
Lord. Endeavour, by your meekness and docility, to 
render their duty more and more pleasing. The pu- 
nishment of those children will be dreadful, whose folly 
and hatred of instruction have made those to sigh and 
to weep whom their proficiency should have gladdened. 
If your parents are at any time negligent, stir them up 
to their duty by your intreaties. Where any right 
feeling remains, children crying for knowledge will not 
lift up their voice in vain. Be not elated with your 



SERM. III. EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. 5£ 

proficiency, nor think that you have done all that is 
necessary, when you are able to answer readily the 
questions that are put to you. If the improvement of 
the heart does not accompany your increase in know- 
ledge, your learning is vain. ee If ye know these things, 
happy are ye if ye do them." 2 

Listen with readiness to instruction from the pul- 
pit. Consider that you go to the house of God to wor- 
ship, and that in every discourse that you hear you 
ought to take a lively interest. It gratifies the mini- 
sters of religion exceedingly when they see you affect- 
ed by the words of eternal life. They have heard 
from parents, when children were gone, that their 
hearts were filled with love to Christ by discourses 
that exhibited his beauty and glory ; that the counsels 
of their minister led them to correct their follies ; and 
that some of their texts were their comfort and their 
hope in that course of sickness by which they went to 
heaven. These affecting incidents encourage them in 
their efforts to feed Christ's lambs ; and while they fol- 
low the hearts of parents to the graves of such children, 
and sigh at the thought of the comfort they would have 
yielded them in their ministry had they been spared ; 
they rejoice in the hope that their early piety will be 
followed by the young, and that from the dust they 
shall one day arise and call them blessed. 

Take heed lest you make your parents occupy that 
time in attending to your idle freaks, which they wish 
to spend in praying for you. Never let your conten- 
tions nor your cries hurry them from their closets;^ 
and pray much for them, that their pious care of you 
may be abundantly blessed to their own souls. Let it 
be your highest ambition to grow in saving knowledge, 



2 John xiii. 17. 



54* 



RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SERM. III. 



and in Christian virtue. As the fairest promises of 
fruit are often blasted by noxious insects in the spring, 
so many delightful indications of wisdom and goodness 
have been destroyed by indolence, and by the indul- 
gence of corrupt propensities. u Keep thy heart with 
all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." 3 

4. Let the young, whose parents are still continued 
with them, beware of imagining, that because they are 
now near to manhood they are above their counsels. 
" Gather yourselves together, and hear ye sons of Ja- 
cob, and hearken unto Israel your father." 4 Solicit 
their advice in your perplexities, aud open your hearts 
to them in your sorrows. Give them the satisfaction 
of seeing in your temper and conduct the fruit of their 
early toils ; and let them have reason to say, that, so 
far from disappointing them, you are wiser and better 
than they hoped. Let them see every thing that 
was amiable about your childhood more bright and 
lovely than it was then. Let not - the evil passions 
which they laboured to mortify operate in you. Go on 
in the paths of wisdom. It is most shameful in young 
persons to be unable to answer the questions they 
could repeat in their childhood, and to lose that ardour 
for knowledge which they then seemed to possess. 

Ye whose parents are gone, remember their lessons 
with care, and examine what influence they have had 
upon you. Thus memory will bring back a parent's 
voice to the ear, and a parent's pious care to the heart. 
Ygu know, that our Lord promised to send the Com- 
forter to the disciples, to recal to their remembrance 
his instructions and consolations ; and, by his influence, 
he will remind you of the counsels of departed parents, 
and give to them a solemnity and power never felt be- 



5 Pro* iv. 23. 



4 Gen. xlix. 2. 



&E.RM. llli EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG; 55 

fore. Let brothers and sisters call each other to pre- 
serve as many of the pious lessons of their parents as 
possible ; and it will give the sweetest delight when 
you meet to talk of these ; when counsels which had 
been forgotten by one are mentioned by another, and 
when an incident that was known only to one is spoken 
of for the benefit of all. 

Take heed that you lose not those things which your 
parents have wrought, but that you obtain a full re- 
ward. Let not the counsel of the ungodly subvert the 
principles which they laboured to form ; nor the laugh- 
ter of fools make you ashamed of the exercises to which 
they led you. How dreadful is it when all a young 
person's labours in religion are lost and buried in a 
parent's grave ! 

" Watch and pray, that you enter not into tempta- 
tion." 5 The errors of his youth lay heavy on David's 
heart, and on that of Job in after life. The folly of a 
moment has been the curse of life, and often hath a sin 
committed in youth made the grey head to bow, and 
Wrung the failing heart of age. Rejoice, that though 
your parents are gone, they have left, in their instruc- 
tions and example, the most precious memorials behind 
them. Their sun is gone to shine in another sphere, 
but a radiance remains which shall illuminate you till 
the night of death comes. Their heart is cold, and 
their arms are motionless ; but you enjoy what the one 
wished, and the other wrought for you. The promises 
are before you which were the ground of their hope ; 
the creation is around you where they traced their 
Maker's steps ; and He who was their guide unto 
death thus addresses you : " As I was with them, so 



5 Matth. xxyi. 41. 



56 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SERM. III. 

will I also be with you ; I will never fail you, nor for- 
sake you/' 6 

Finally, I conclude this discourse with a few exhor- 
tations to the aged. Some of the old feel a strong at- 
tachment to the little children of their connections. 
These tender plants bring back to their remembrance 
the spring of life ; and, when the heart is dead to the 
world, they excite and gratify its affections. Encou- 
rage not the negligence of children by indiscreet par- 
tiality, nor seek to screen them from the correction 
which they require. Let religious counsel be mingled 
with your tales of other times, and let their curiosity 
and their wonder be excited by subjects worthy of such 
emotions. There are aged persons to whom the viva- 
city of children is a burden. Do not disgust them at 
religion, by your peevishness and gloom. A sullen and 
fretful old man will never be relished as a monitor by 
the young. Let them see how religion can beautify 
the traces of decay, and that the grace of God can not 
only support but cheer the drooping spirit. 

There are old people who complain, that they live in 
total solitude ; that the young care not for them ; that 
they are forgotten by the world ; that many years have 
passed away since the voice of affection was heard in 
their dwellings ; and that the children whom they de- 
lighted to bring to Jesus are long since in the dust. 
But you mingle with little children in the solemnities 
of religion, you hear them repeating their questions and 
portions of scripture in catechetical exercises, and their 
shrill voices rise beside you in the songs of Zion. By 
praying for them in your lonely dwelling, you will bring 
them to your side. If you are the friends of religion, 
it must delight you to think, that so many in early life 

6 Josh, i. 5. 



SEKM. Ill* EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG. 5? 

are seeking after God ; and by giving them, as you 
have opportunity, a serious counsel, you will feel that 
glow rekindled with which <( your hearts burned when 
you talked with the young, and opened to them the 
Scriptures." How happy will you be when God shall 
unite you in heaven with the young for whom he heard 
your prayers, and make known to them the tender in- 
terest you took in their welfare. Labour, then, to be 
useful in every possible form, and as long as the state 
of your mind and body admits of it, and at " the even* 
ing time it shall be light" 7 Amen. 



7 Zech. xiv. 7* 



EARLY SEEKING OF CHRIST SERM. IV. 



SERMON IV. 

EARLY SEEKING OF CHRIST ENCOURAGED. 



Pro v. viii. 17. 
" They that seek me early shall find me." 

In this Chapter wisdom presents her claims to the at- 
tention of mankind^ in a very solemn and affecting 
manner. She addresses her call to men of all ranks, 
and promises to her faithful disciples the most valua- 
ble blessings. To the poor and to the rich, she offers 
treasures in heaven. To the ignorant and to the learn- 
ed, she offers the light of life. She promises to the aged 
effectual support in their declining days ; and to the 
young she exhibits the only object that deserves the 
glowing affections of early life. The text is her call to 
the young ; and I trust it will not be heard in vain. 

It is generally supposed, that by wisdom, in this 
chapter, our blessed Saviour is represented. Though 
bold personifications abound in the language of the 
East, yet the phraseology throughout the whole of this 
chapter is of such a kind, that it cannot, without a great 
violation of propriety, be applied to a mere quality . 
Consider it as a description of Him who is the wisdom 
of God, and the power of God ; and the passage ap- 
pears marked with a consistency, beauty and force, 
which no other explanation can impart. To the young 
this Counsellor speaks in the language of love, and ani- 



SERM. IV. ENCOURAGED. 5g 

mates them to the early culture of religious principle, 
by the strongest assurances of success. May the call 
in the text be thus answered by every youthful heart, 
e( O Lord thou art my God, early will I seek thee !" 1 
In this discourse, I shall, 1 st } shew what it is to seek 
the Lord Jesus. 2d, I shall point out what it is to 
find him, and the happiness which this yields. And I 
shall then endeavour to prove that those who seek 
Christ early have peculiar reason to expect success. 

I. What is implied in seeking the Lord Jesus ? 
1. It implies a decided conviction of the utter insuf- 
ficiency of every other object for our happiness and sal- 
vation. Little acquaintance with our own hearts, and 
with the world, is necessary to convince us that the 
wishes of the immortal soul can be gratified in no crea- 
ted object. Sad experience will impress this lesson 
upon the heart, that is too foolish and stubborn to learn 
it by the counsels of a more gentle monitor. Worldly 
objects appear with such gay attractions to the young, 
that they are apt to promise themselves much happi- 
ness in attaining them ; but disappointment, or sober 
reflection, will expose the emptiness of this fair show, 
and make them turn from it with disgust, and with the 
fullest consciousness that if ever they are happy it can- 
not be in earthly things. I wish not to make you dis- 
contented with your condition in the world, or insensi- 
ble to its blessings ; but till you are convinced that 
your soul cannot find a portion worthy of it here, you 
will feel no anxiety, and make no effort to obtain the 
grace and the glory of religion. 

But man is a sinner, odious from his depravity to a 
Holy God, and obnoxious to his vengeance. The 
convictions of this, which are produced by the accusa- 



1 Psal. Ixiii. I. 



60 



EARLY SEEKING OP CHRIST SERM. IV. 



tions of conscience, by the ministry of the word, or by 
disastrous events, may be suppressed for a season by 
the flatteries of spiritual pride, by the bustle of the 
world, or by resolutions of future amendment ; but in 
the heirs of salvation, these are too powerful to be borne 
down, too urgent to be evaded, and too painful to be 
endured without the most earnest desires after deliver- 
ance. These convictions have been reprobated under 
every odious epithet, by persons professing a great zeal 
for the dignity and the happiness of their species; but 
till they are felt, the salvation of the Gospel will neither 
be prized nor sought. 

The young are apt to flatter themselves that their 
crimes are few, and that the circumspection of their af- 
ter days will atone for the follies of their youth ; but 
et ye are children of wrath, even as others/' your na- 
tures require a renovation which the polish of educa- 
tion cannot give, and your crimes demand an atone- 
ment which the penitence of years, and even your mi- 
sery through eternity, cannot present. In opposition 
to all the flatteries of others, and to the presumptuous 
suggestions of your own hearts, cherish a deep sense of 
your spiritual wretchedness, and raise at the throne of 
grace the bitter cry, " Woe is me, for I am undone \" 

2. It implies a decided persuasion that in Christ Je- 
sus every blessing that the soul requires is to be found. 
Were it not for this persuasion, the anxious mind would 
never direct its enquiries after him. It is painful to 
think what destructive counsels have been addressed to 
the wretched sinner, exclaiming, " What shall I do to 
be saved !" Superstition, from her temple, prescribes 
to him a variety of gloomy and toilsome ceremonies, 
and penances, as the price of rest. Pleasure, looking 
from her window, laughs in the enquirer's face, and says, 
ff Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die." 



SERM. IV. 



ENCOURAGED. 



61 



False teachers, sitting down in the chair of Moses, cry, 
u Reform your bad habits, and God will be at peace 
with you;" but the only counsel which it is safe to fol- 
low, is that which was given to the jailor at Philippi, 
" Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
saved." 1 " He is made of God unto us wisdom, right- 
eousness, sanctification and redemption." 2 The anxi- 
ous heart beholds in his blood ample satisfaction for 
all our offences, in his righteousness merit sufficient to 
entitle it to eternal felicity : in his counsels the gui- 
dance that is necessary to lead us safe to heaven, and 
in his grace a power, which can subdue every cor- 
rupt principle, and make us " partakers of a divine na- 
ture." In the presence of our Redeemer, and in the 
possession of his salvation, there is a joy experienced 
which none on earth can equal ; a security which the 
gates of hell can never endanger ; riches which are a 
portion for ever ; and light and truth, which can impart 
to the intellectual and moral nature of man, an expan- 
sion, a refinement, and a perfection, worthy of the 
means which God has employed to raise it from the 
ruins of the fall. 

These representations are not the dreams of a heat- 
ed fancy, or the idle conceits of enthusiastic specula- 
tion ; but they have been the consolation of the good, 
and the testimony of the wise in every age ; and I be- 
seech you to come to the Saviour, and to you they 
shall be fully realized. You have often heard glowing 
descriptions of the delight which earthly objects will 
yield, and have come away from them offended with the 
representation that deceived you, and ashamed of your 
own credulity ; but Christ is all, and in speaking of 



1 Acts xvi. 31. 



2 1 Cor. i. 30. 



62 



EARLY SEEKING OF CHRIST SERM. IV. 



Him, admiration cannot exceed, and in the hope of his 
mercy pious expectation cannot be too ample. 

3. It implies a strong desire to obtain an interest in 
Christ. This is the obvious result of the consciousness 
that by him alone we can be sanctified and saved. 
The desire which we feel to possess any object, is strong 
in proportion to our convictions of its excellence, and 
of the necessity of our possessing it to our happiness. 
Men, in their desires after earthly things, are like 
children, eager and impatient to obtain what has caught 
their fancy, and yet they will soon destroy it, or throw 
it aside in disgust. How unworthy of a rational be- 
ing is his conduct, who roams incessantly from one 
scene of indulgence to another, and the langour of 
whose countenance, which a little before was seen glow- 
ing with gay expectation, proclaims to all around the 
vanity of his hopes, and the folly of his pursuits, and 
yet goes forth to be the dupe of temptation in some 
other form ! 

But no rival object can draw away the wishes 
of the convinced soul from the Saviour. There are 
many objects which may promise to amuse or to grati- 
fy him for a day; but none of them can promise him 
happiness for eternity. And what can the wisdom or 
the wealth of the world present to a mind tortured 
with guilt, or trembling on the verge of eternity, like 
the blood of the Lamb, and the hope of the Gospel ? 

The difficulties that impede the gratification of the 
worldly man's wishes often extinguish them, and induce 
him to direct his views to other objects ; but the oppo- 
sition that is made to the efforts of the awakened sin- 
ner inflames his solicitude. The strongest images 
which the natural world affords are employed in Scrip- 
ture to point out the vehemence of this desire ; nor 
will they be deemed extravagant by him whose heart 



SERM. IV. 



ENCOURAGED. 



63 



and whose flesh are crying out for the living God. It is 
strange that while the eager pursuit of science, or of the 
advantages of the world, is praised in the highest terms, 
earnestness in seeking salvation is deemed by many a 
fit object of ridicule and contempt. Such conduct is 
both uncandid and unjust. It is a disgrace to a man's 
understanding to be influenced by such scoffers ; and 
let me assure the young, eager for salvation, that their 
wishes are directed to an object that well deserves them, 
and which will engage them in a course of conduct 
yielding the truest pleasure to the heart, and the no- 
blest improvement to the character. 

4. It implies persevering efforts in the use of all ap- 
pointed means to obtain this object. (e The desire of 
the slothful killeth him, for his hands refuse to labour." 1 
Unwilling to make the necessary exertions to obtain the 
object of desire, he is the miserable victim of his own 
indolence, unpitied and unaided ; for who will make an 
effort for him who will make no effort for himself? 
But the awakened sinner feels himself impelled to seek 
the Lord with all his heart. Some indolent and per- 
verse visionaries, abusing that text where God says, 
" I am found of them that sought me not," 2 have con- 
tended that no means whatever are to be used on our 
part, and this has been extolled as a position that dis- 
plays superior acuteness and purity in evangelical doc- 
trine, and as a magnifying of the grace of God; but 
we are not to expect, in the ordinary procedure of 
Providence, uncommon interpositions to rouse the care- 
less, nor can we warrantably hope that God will meet 
us, except " in his way." 

It is in the ordinances of his grace that the Lord Je- 
sus will be found by them that seek him. In serious 



1 Prov. xxi. 25. 



2 Isa. Ixv. 1. 



64< 



EARLY SEEKING OF CHRIST SERM. IV. 



reflection on your own character and conduct, in the 
careful perusal of the Scriptures, and of books written 
to shew us the way of salvation, in earnest and perse- 
vering prayer, in the regular performance of the exer- 
cises of domestic worship, in conversation with the 
pious, in fixed attention to the preaching of the Gospel, 
in studiously avoiding foolish and corrupting associates, 
and in maintaining a deep sense of the presence and 
authority of God, you must seek the Saviour. And 
your efforts must be unceasing. From his pillow by 
night, and from his labour by day, the thoughts of the 
true penitent are directed to the Lord Jesus. Place 
him in the midst of worldly success, and he " will 
count all things but loss for the excellency of the know- 
ledge of the Saviour, that he may win Christ and be 
found in him." 1 Exhibit before him the most fascina- 
ting object of pursuit, and he will not withdraw his 
eye for a moment from the contemplation of the unri- 
valled glory of the Saviour. Tell him that his former 
companions wish him again to join them in the courses 
in which they once sought enjoyment, he will say, ¥ O 
that I could persuade them to turn with me and to seek 
God !" Should it be suggested to him that his efforts 
may be made hereafter, and with more success, he will 
reply, that every moment's delay would be an abridge- 
ment of his happiness, and render his success less cer- 
tain. 

I proceed now, in the second place, to shew what it 
is to find Christ, and the happiness that results from it. 

The expression, rinding Christ, is figurative, and 
may be considered as intimating their obtaining a sa- 
ving discovery of his character. Like the man enga- 



1 Phil. iii. e, 9. 



SERM. IV. 



ENCOURAGED. 



65 



ged in investigating truth, and who, after many a 
sleepless night, and many a studious day, discovers the 
object he has long sought, and from the knowledge of 
which he anticipated the happiest result ; the soul that 
finds Christ beholds the brightness of his glory, and 
acknowledges that every representation which it heard, 
and every idea which it had formed of him, fall far be- 
neath his beauty and excellence. 

The expression may intimate also their forming a 
saving connection with him. As the man who has 
anxiously sought a friend from whom he has been long 
separated, from whom he cannot bear the thought of 
being any longer divided, who meets him unaltered in 
affection, and improved in excellence, and who, in the 
raptures of reunion, says, <? The Lord do so to me, and 
more also, if aught but death part me and thee 1 so 
the penitent who has been seeking the Lord Jesus un- 
der the consciousness that if far off from him he must 
perish, and that to be near him is the heaven which 
alone can make him happy, is seen by the Saviour 
while approaching with trembling steps, he runs to 
meet him, and falling on his neck, clasps him to a 
heart melting with compassion and love, and says, 
" Thou shalt never leave me more, and all that I have 
is thine." 

I only add, on this part of the subject, that the ex- 
pression suggests their obtaining all the blessings of 
salvation. " The kingdom of heaven is like unto a 
merchantman seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had 
found one pearl of great price, went away and sold all 
that he had, and bought it." 2 Jesus Christ is the un- 
speakable gift of God, and with him God freely gives 
us all things. In receiving the Saviour, we lay hold on 



1 Ruth i. 17. 2 iMatth. xiii. 45, 46. 

1 



66 



EARLY SEEKING OF CHRIST 



SERM IV, 



eternal life, and on every blessing that is necessary to 
prepare for it. But this leads me to state the happiness 
which finding Christ yields. 

1. They that find Christ obtain deliverance from the 
Worst evils. When I speak of these, the worldly man 
will think of poverty, sickness, or reproach. These are 
the great evils that he dreads ; and any one that could 
secure him from these, he would court as the most va- 
luable of all friends. Religion leaves her votaries to 
the sorrows that are common to man ; but she improves 
them in her best graces by the sufferings of life, and 
he who possesses an interest in Christ can in no cir- 
cumstances be left comfortless. 

They that find Christ obtain relief from horror of 
conscience, from the burden of guilt, and from the ter- 
rors of Jehovah's wrath. In the merits of his blood, 
and in the power of his intercession, they see the strong- 
est reasons for hoping that they shall never come into 
condemnation. A conscience w purged from dead 
works" must speak peace, and a Judge reconciled can* 
not act to them as a foe. 

They obtain freedom from the tyranny of evil pas- 
sions. The corrupt principles which reason never 
could controul are subdued by the power of divine 
grace. The spirit of revenge, the lust of the flesh, and 
the pride of life, which produce such misery while they 
rage in the heart, and when their short-lived gratifica- 
tions are over, are now repressed, and the dominion is 
given to gentleness, temperance, and humility. 

They obtain relief from the thraldom of Satan, the 
evil spirit that works in the children of disobedience, 
and who glories in the deceits which he practises, and 
in the ruin of his slaves. At the first touch of their 
Lord's hand their chains fall off, and their cruel adver- 
sary hath no power to replace them. He hath permis- 
sion to tempt them, but not to subdue nor to destroy. 



SERM. IV, 



ENCOURAGED. 



67 



Nor is this a deliverance from evils which may re- 
turn with increased violence ; for they can never again 
endanger your happiness. Let this powerfully influ- 
ence the young to seek the L®rd Jesus. You are ea- 
ger to remove the tendencies to disease that may be 
apparent about you, lest their violence and malignity 
should become insuperable by neglect ; and will you 
foster those passions which will be the torment of the 
heart, and persist in that course which must lead you 
to ruin ? 

2. They that find Christ obtain the most valuable 
advantages. I speak not of the honours, the riches, 
and the pleasures of the present life ; for religion num- 
bers not these among its high rewards. It can make 
the heart contented with the smallest measure of them. 
In that portion of them which is secured by the indus- 
try which it animates, and the sobriety which it main- 
tains, there is more to bless than in the paradise of the 
voluptuary, or the rich man's thousands. 

They obtain an interest in the favour of that God, 
who has every blessing at his disposal, and whose lo- 
ving kindness is better than life ; the graces which 
beautify the character, and give peace and joy to the 
soul in their exercise ; and illumination, which solves 
their doubts, scatters their fears, and opens before them 
scenes glowing with the splendour of eternal day. The 
best robe which heaven can bestow, the highest titles 
which creatures can wear, and promises exceeding great 
and precious, are theirs. To them is opened an inter- 
course, which changes them into the divine image from 
glory to glory, and pleasures which are the bliss of 
God himself. 

The heart now finds an object which can gratify its 
amplest wishes, and may rejoice that these advantages 
perish not in the using, and lie secure beyond the reach 



6$ EARLY SEEKING OF CHRIST SERM. IV. 

of accident. Now, shall the gaining of these advan- 
tages appear of no importance to the young ? Com- 
pared with them, how contemptible is all for which am- 
bition struggles, and avarice pines ? " What is a man 
profited if he gain the whole world, and lose his own 
soul ; and what shall a man give in exchange for his 
soul?" 1 

3. The man that finds Christ may cherish the most 
blessed hopes with regard to the future. Hope is a 
principle strong and fervid in the breast of youth. The 
aged mark with a sigh their eager anticipations of world- 
ly happiness ; and in counsels too often disregarded bid 
them remember the days of darkness, for they shall be 
many. But religion inspires no hope which it disap- 
points, and promises no happiness which it will not 
realize. The representations which it gives of future 
happiness are expressed in figurative language, accom- 
modated to our present habits and conceptions ; but the 
bliss itself shall far transcend our most elevated ideas 
of it, and shall be suited to the nature and love of Him 
in whose presence it shall be enjoyed. 

Now " this is the record which God hath given to 
us, eternal life, and this life is in his Son f and they 
who are united to Jesus may rejoice in hope of sharing 
his felicity and glory hereafter. And in that state of 
perfection no conflicts shall interrupt the joys of reli- 
gion, no envy shall menace the security of prosperity, 
no jealousy shall mar the endearments of friendship, 
and no disease shall threaten the extinction of existence. 
There is surely nothing around you which has a right 
to detain your hearts from such a scene, so delightful 
even in hope. O let your eager views rise above this 
world to the land where there is fulness of joy ; and 



* Matth, xvi. 26. 



5ERM. IV. 



ENCOURAGED. 



69 



this blessed hope will influence you to seek the king* 
dom of God, and the righteousness of it, in preference 
to every other object. 

I proceed now to shew, that those that seek Christ 
early have the strongest reason to expect success. 

1. The Redeemer takes peculiar delight in the move- 
ments of early piety. These, in an especial manner, 
honour his supreme excellence. When men are in- 
duced to seek him at advanced seasons of life, some 
are disposed to imagine, that his excellencies cannot be 
very attracting, or they would more early have won 
their hearts ; but when the young follow him at a pe- 
riod when the world appears to them in its fairest glow, 
the conviction is felt, that " he is the chiefest among 
ten thousand, and altogether lovely." 

The young, too, are ardent in all their pursuits, and 
they seek him with the energy of a keen and deter- 
mined mind, and not with the cold and feeble efforts 
of the sluggard. The impressions of youth are seldom 
faint, or its exertions hesitating and irresolute. And 
when the ardour of youth is mingled with the zeal of 
religion, there must be an earnestness in our endea- 
vours, which he who " despises not the day of small 
things" will not disregard. 

But there are other reasons of this complacency. 
Those that seek Christ early are likely to rise to much 
more eminence in religion, and to be much more use- 
ful in promoting his kingdom in the world than later 
converts. When the hoary headed transgressor turns 
from his wicked way, the power of divine grace is stri- 
kingly manifested ; yet the men of the world remember 
his excesses in sin amidst the rigours of his repentance, 
and his contempt of divine ordinances amidst the re- 
gard he now shews for them, and this often suggests 
doubts of his sincerity, and lessens the influence of his 



70 EARLY SEEKING OF CHRIST SERM IV. 

example; but in the young disciple of Jesus no sucb 
contrast is apparent, and no such invidious reflections 
can be made. When the counsels of religion are de- 
livered by the aged penitent, they are considered as 
the effusions of spleen, and of a heart soured by disap- 
pointment ; but from the lips of youth they have a 
power to interest the most careless, and the scornful 
feel themselves unable to apply to them a single sar- 
casm. Later converts are like the short-lived gleam, 
which, after a day of clouds and tempests, sometimes 
bursts out in the evening, but calls forth few sounds of 
joy in the material creation, and yields little advantage 
to the labours of men. Early converts are like the 
morning light, <£ shining more and more to the perfect 
day/' whose dawn and progress are hailed by the songs 
of the birds from the air and from the woods, and af- 
ford the amplest facilities for the operations of human 
industry. It is from such disciples that we expect ac- 
curate and enlarged views of religious truth, and that 
stability and beauty of Christian character, which will 
give the happiest influence to their counsels and ex- 
ample. 

1 may add also, that those who seek Christ early 
are, by this choice of religion in youth, preserved from 
those corrupt associations of thought, which so mourn- 
fully distract and pollute the hearts and the exercise of 
later converts, and which Satan employs all his art and 
all his influence to maintain, in order to render their 
services an abomination to the Lord, and a cause of 
shame and horror to themselves. But the worship of 
early piety is a pure offering, and generally yields to 
him that presents it unmingled delight. On such ac- 
counts as these, the Redeemer regards, with peculiar 
complacency, the serious impressions of early life ; and, 
in looking back on the days of youth, he sees nothing 



SERM. IV. 



ENCOURAGED. 



71 



which he can contemplate with delight, if the fervour 
of devotion, and the love of wisdom, are not there. 

2. The young are likely to seek him with undivided 
hearts, and from affectionate choice. It is not with a 
heart exhausted by a long and fruitless search after 
happiness, that they come forward, saying, « We would 
see Jesus." When men have long sought for happi- 
ness in worldly objects, the recourse which they some- 
times take to a religious profession is often the effort of 
necessity and desperation, made without affection, and 
quickly abandoned in disgust. Even where it is main* 
tained, the habits, which have become powerful and 
stubborn through long indulgence, draw the heart away 
from all that is pure and heavenly ; and the pursuit of 
spiritual objects, which in other circumstances is so de- 
lightful, is in this case tried amidst agitation and con* 
flict too painful to be long endured, and it is soon given 
up for the torpor of security, or the gloom of despair. 
But in the young these habits, which hold the aged 
sinner in the bondage of corruption, have not acquired 
that strength which makes their opposition so formid- 
able, and their efforts to repress the elevation of the 
affections to the Redeemer are more easily repelled. It 
is surely probable, that, when religion is contemplated 
by a mind which the false glare of the world has not 
utterly enfeebled, and when its pleasures are offered to 
a heart whose sensibilities have not been extinguished 
by a course of wickedness, that the pursuit of it will be 
determined and persevering. 

It should also be considered, that the cares of busi- 
ness, which occupy so much of the time and the thoughts 
of men in after life, and so often limit and mar their 
devotions, have not yet entangled the young. In seeking 
the Redeemer, the world cannot oppose them in such 
a variety of ways, and to such a degree, as it will do 



72 EARLY SEEKING OF CHRIST SERM. IV* 

afterwards. Light are your hearts in comparison of 
those which are overcharged with the cares of this life. 
I intreat you, therefore, my young friends, to make an 
effort now when success is so likely, and not to delay 
it to a period when it will either not be made at all, or 
made in utter feebleness and despondency. 

3. The young have peculiar reason to expect the aids 
of the Spirit in seeking Christ. So gracious is the 
Holy Ghost, that he continues long, by his admoni- 
tions and impulses, to warn us against sin, and to ex- 
cite us to our duty. The obstinate resistance which 
the sinner gives to these, induces him at last to leave 
him to perish in the courses which he would not aban- 
don. But the young are in a season of life in which 
multitudes have found that he waits to be gracious. 
And those who at this season comply so far with his 
movements in the heart as to seek the Lord, may ex- 
pect his special influence to enlighten their minds, to 
give energy to their efforts, and to crown them with 
success. He .will present objects to their view adapted 
to confirm their purposes, to animate their devotions, 
and to counteract the influence of those occurrences 
and scenes which might have an unfavourable tendency. 
He will lead them to think with pity on the stupidity 
of the careless, and with horror on the obstinate wick- 
edness of the profane. He will make devotional exer- 
cise pleasing, and render the meltings of repentance 
tranquillizing to the heart. In the care which the God 
of nature takes ef the feeble plant, in the variety of 
meatis which he employs to make it strike its roots in 
the ground, and to rise in the stalk, in the blossom, 
and in the fruit, we see an emblem of those methods of 
patience and grace by which he will raise the virtues of 
religion to perfection. 

It may also be stated on this part of the subject, thai 



BERM. IV. 



ENCOURAGED. 



73 



the transgressor, who has lived long in folly, hath to 
encounter the opposition and the enticements of his 
former connections, who will try every art to keep him 
from abandoning their society, and who often unhap- 
pily succeed in extinguishing the kindling purposes of 
amendment. All that ridicule, sophistry, or persuasion 
can urge, they bring forward to destroy his serious im- 
pressions. But the young are not thus entangled. Ma- 
ny are eager to cherish their purposes, and to aid their 
efforts to be serious and wise. Many hands are ex- 
tended in pious benevolence to lead them to the Sa- 
viour, and many a voice pleads with them " to remem- 
ber their Creator in the days of their youth." 

4. The language of the text suggests, that those 
who do not seek the Lord Jesus in their youth, have 
much reason to fear that they shall never find him. 
We mean not to assert, that there have been no in- 
stances of genuine conversion among the aged • but 
they very seldom occur. Those whose early days pass 
away without any saving change, are generally in ad- 
vanced life utterly hardened through the deceitfulness 
of sin ; or if they are brought under convictions, they 
seek not for mercy from despair of success, or, in the 
righteous judgment of God, ask for it in vain. 

Many are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 
Every feeling friendly to seriousness is destroyed ; they 
scoff at every appearance of piety, and represent the 
scenes of a future world as vain dreams. " My people 
would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would have 
none of me ; so I gave them up to their own hearts 
lusts, and they wandered in their own counsels." 1 Even 
when men are kept from open profanity, and continue 
to give regular attendance on the ordinances of the 

1 Psalm Ixxxi. 11, l£. 
e 



* 

74 EARLY SEEKING OF CHRIST SERM. IV. 

Gospel ; yet, as the punishment of their dislike to 
vital piety, " their hearts become fat, their eyes 
dim, and their ears heavy ; lest they should see with 
their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand 
with their hearts, and repent and be healed." 1 

Some in advanced life abandon themselves to de« 
spair. They imagine that the door of mere}' is shut, 
and that if they knock, they will he driven away with 
scorn and abhorrence. The kindest language of mercy 
only aggravates their wretchedness, and they feel, when 
such words of grace are repeated, like the criminal who 
hears a respite intimated to his companion, and knows 
that his own doom is inevitable. Under the influence 
of such impressions, some have abstained from all 
prayer for salvation, and resisted every compassionate 
effort that was made to dispel their horrors. 

And there are some who " find no place for repent- 
ance, though they seek it earnestly and with tears/' 
You must have heard of persons who, from the dread 
of hell, have cried to God for pardon, but have died 
without the least evidence that they had obtained it. 
Providence exhibits such scenes, as awful monuments 
of the danger of delay in religion, and of the offensive- 
ness of that presumption which imagines that the se- 
riousness of a few moments will be accepted of God, as 
if it had been the homage of a whole life. " Then 
shall they call on me, but I will not answer ; they shall 
seek me early, but they shall not find me ; because they 
hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the 
Lord ; they would have none of my counsel, and de- 
spised all my reproof ; therefore they shall eat of the 
fruit of their own ways, and be filled with their own 
devices." * 

1 Isa. vi. 10. ? Prov. i, 28—31- 



SERM. IV. 



ENCOURAGED. 



75 



I shall conclude the discourse with some practical 
exhortations. 

1. Let me beseech the young to seek the Lord while 
he may be found. You have been called to this in the 
ministry of the word, and by all your religious con- 
nections. Some of you have probably been thus ad- 
dressed by dying parents from the bed of death, " Thou 
Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy fathers, 
and serve him with a perfect heart, and with a willing 
mind ; for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and under- 
standeth all the imaginations of the thoughts ; if thou 
seek him, he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake 
him, he will cast thee off for ever." 1 And can you 
forget such counsels ; and is not the thought now griev- 
ing to you, that you have never yet complied with 
their last request, and that you have done as they 
wished in every thing but in this ? 

Consider, too, the many examples which encourage 
you to seek Jesus. Think of Josiah, who, when his 
spirit was tender, set himself to seek the Lord God of 
his fathers, and of the great multitudes who in this re- 
spect have followed him. And is there more to engage 
you in the frivolous and loose behaviour of gay fools, 
than in conduct which is the delight of the wise ? In 
complying with these counsels, you will have a Friend 
to whom you may apply in every emergency ; and 
while worldly men are perplexed and distracted in the 
day of calamity, you will have a place of refuge. It 
will console you in all worldly disappointments, that, 
in the grand concern of salvation, you laboured not in 
vain. 

Should an early death be your lot, Jesus will come 
and receive your departing spirits. Should that disor- 



1 1 Chron. xxviii. 9. 



76 



EARLY SEEKING OF CHRIST 



SERM. IT. 



der so often fatal to the young be sent to stretch you 
on the bed of languishing, you will contemplate in 
your wasting body, not only the dust returning to the 
earth, but your spirits preparing for the Redeemer's 
presence ; and while your friends behold death assert- 
ing its claim to the outward man at its best estate, they 
will rejoice that Jesus is calling to heaven a heart de- 
voted to himself, and that can only be fully happy 
where he is. Christ hath made death an object of de- 
sire even to the youthful heart, to which the joys of 
life were new. And of all recollections of you when 
you are gone, this will be the sweetest, that you culti- 
vated the spirit, and looked for the mercy of Jesus. I 
have seen this the consolation of a mother, watching by 
the side of a dying son, that she had heard from him 
the affectionate and humble statement of his hope in 
Christ ; and his confidence rested not on the mildness 
and sobriety of his character, but on the Lord our 
righteousness. " I sought the Saviour till I found 
him," was one of his affecting expressions which are 
cherished in the memory of his friends ; and I pray 
God that you may seek and hud Jesus like him. 

2. I exhort those who have sought the Saviour early, 
to maintain their earnestness in religion. There is 
reason to complain of some that their zeal has declined, 
and that their delight in spiritual things, their lively 
apprehensions of eternal objects, and their melting 
tenderness in religious ordinances, have in a great mea- 
sure passed away. I hope better things of you, though 
I thus speak. Think of such professors of religion, 
not to lessen your impressions of the shame and the 
dangers of apostacy, but to teach you to labour to re- 
store their souls, and to take heed lest you fall. To 
you the Saviour srtys, " Will ye also go away ?" and 
this affecting question calls you to honour him by un- 



SERM. IV. 



ENCOURAGED. 



77 



shaken fidelity. Recommend this exercise to others, 
and let them not see in you that sorrow of the world, 
or that languor in religious services, which will make 
them judge unfavourably of early piety. " Make straight 
paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned 
out of the way, but let it rather be healed." 1 Look 
diligently, lest any man fail of the grace 6f God, and 
labour especially that your friends and connections may 
obtain it. When Andrew had met with Christ, he 
first addressed his own brother Simon, and said to 
him, " We have found the Messias, and he brought 
him to Jesus." 2 You can state to them the events, or 
the portions of Scripture, which first roused your at- 
tention, the promises which encouraged your hope, and 
the supplications to which Jesus inclined his ear in. 
mercy, and the raptures of your own welcome will re- 
turn when they find grace in his sight. Pray for the 
success of every attempt to promote religion among the 
young, and that the dew of the Saviour's youth may 
be abundant and refreshing to his desolate heritage. 
To you the advocates of early piety will look for ex- 
amples of its beauty and its beneficial influence. Those 
who are hesitating about yielding themselves to the 
Lord, will look to you to determine their choice ; and 
let there be nothing in your manners to render early 
religion less attractive. 

Let it be your object, in all the ordinances of reli- 
gion, to meet with God ; and let this be your purpose 
in every approach to the sanctuary, " Thy face, O 
Lord, will I seek." Every service, without his pre* 
sence, will be cold and comfortless ; and the best mi- 
nistrations will profit you nothing. You have begun 
well in religion ; take heed that you do not end in the 



1 Heb. xii, 13. 



2 John xli. 4& 



78 EARLY SEEKING OF CHRIST SERM. IV. 

flesh. Let knowledge of the world be joined with the 
purity of religion ; and while you engage actively in 
the scenes of business, be more zealous than ever in 
the work of heaven. 

Finally Let those who are in advanced life consi- 
der their ways, and be wise. We have no great hope 
of success in pleading with you ; yet we will not de- 
spair, for we speak in his name who is able to save to 
the uttermost. God is now saying of you as of the 
bones in the valley of vision, which were very dry, 
" Son of man, can these bones live ?" And what an- 
swer can I give but this, " O Lord God, thou know- 
est." He gives this commandment, " Say unto them, 
O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord." 1 You 
have the same encouragement to seek mercy which Jo- 
nah gave to the men of Nineveh, " Who can tell but 
God will turn and repent, and turn from his fierce an- 
ger, that you perish not." Yea, we can go further 
and say, that the man that comes to Christ, whatever 
be his character or his age, his guilt or his wretched- 
ness, he will in no wise cast out. 2 I beseech you 
then, to turn to the Lord ; for to you he still extends 
his golden sceptre, and none ever touched it and pe- 
rished. He scorns not the hoary head that bows down 
in his presence, nor the withered hand that attempts to 
touch his sceptre. God is now saying to you, Wilt 
thou be made clean, when shall it once be ? Shall it 
not be this moment ? The greatest portion of your 
life has been occupied in folly ; you have only a short 
and uncertain period of existence remaining, and shall 
you deem that too large and too valuable to be devoted 
to the service of the great Redeemer ? While you he- 
sitate, death advances ; and while you still boast of to* 



1 JEzek. xxxvii 4. 



* John vi» 31V 



SE11M. IV. 



ENCOURAGED. 



79 



morrow, the moment may arrive that will terminate 
life and hope for ever. I call on you, therefore, to de- 
vote yourselves now to the Lord ; and let this be your 
language, " Had I life to begin, O Lord Jesus, I would 
begin it with thee. I cannot return to the days of my 
youth, but I will not live another moment in forgetful* 
ness of God. Through thy grace, I will strive for tne 
future to live to thee. What I have now to offer thee 
is most unworthy of thine acceptance ; but O cast me 
not away from thy presence, and display the exceeding 
riches of thy grace in saving a sinner that has so long 
abused thy patience/' To such cries for mercy, where 
the heart dictates them, he will listen ; and to such 
feelings and prayers may his grace form you. Amen, 



so 



ON THE HOMAGE DUE TO 



SERMv V* 



SERMON V. 

ON THE HOMAGE DUE TO A FATHER'S GOD. 



ExOD. xv. 2. 

" He is my God, and I will prepare him a habitation ; my fa- 
ther's God, and I will exalt him." 

This ancient song, breathing all the fervour and sub. 
limity of poetic inspiration, commences with an ex* 
pression of the pious determination of its writer to de- 
vote himself to the service of his father's God. While 
contemplating chariots, and captains, and princes, dash- 
ed in pieces by the right hand of Jehovah, he thinks 
of the shield which the Almighty had spread over the 
dwelling of his parents ; and while the mighty waves 
were rushing over the pride of Egypt, he remembers 
the mercy which had drawn him out of the waters. It 
is plain that, by this commencement of the song, Moses 
wished to raise a memorial of the divine goodness in 
every heart, and in every dwelling in Israel. Other 
monuments are raised to flatter national vanity, and 
in the praises inscribed on them the agency of God is 
too often overlooked ; but in the piety of domestic life, 
his loving kindness is declared from the fulness of the 
heart in the devotions of the morning and evening, 
and the fathers to the children make known his truth. 
The Almighty has humbled our enemies before us ; 



SERM. V. 



A FATHER'S GOD. 



SI 



and were religion seen presiding in our triumphs, and 
were victory to attach all ranks to the service of God, 
we would find him the maintainer of our peace, and 
the sword of our excellency 

This devout resolution of Moses I shall explain and 
recommend to the imitation of the young ; and may 
Jehovah say of their hearts, and the abode which they 
prepare for him, " This is my rest, here will I dwell." 

I. Let us consider the devout resolution in the text. 
It consists of two parts. 

1 . Moses declares that he will prepare for God a ha- 
bitation. But will God in very deed dwell with man 
upon earth ? Yes, he dwells not only in the temples 
which are reared for his worship, but in the hearts and 
in the families of the good. 

1. It is the duty of the young to prepare for God a 
habitation in their hearts. The human heart is occu- 
pied by God's enemies. There Satan hath his seat, 
there £o\]y wantons, and there corruption reigns ; and 
to expel them is a task for which our powers are alto- 
gether inadequate. 

Men are likewise averse to make any effort for the 
sanctification of their hearts, and employ various arts 
to check all convictions of its necessity. The strong 
man armed keeps the house, and the goods are at 
peace. But in the day of Jehovah's power, the influ- 
ence of spiritual wickednesses is broken, and in the light 
and the graces of the Holy Ghost he takes possession of 
the soul. For a season he permits the principles of 
corruption to remain in the good, that he may employ 
the graces of his people in zealous efforts for their 
complete expulsion, and for forming the heart into a 
holy temple for himself. This is the work in which 
the new creature must be incessantly employed, and in 



82 ON THE HOMAGE DUE TO SERM. V. 

which, by a series of labours and conflicts, it rises to 
its destined perfection. It is to such exertions as these 
that the text refers, and it expresses a determination 
to persist in them, however arduous, painful, and pro- 
tracted. 

Let us take a short view of the execution of this pur- 
pose, with regard to the various faculties of the soul. 

As to the understanding, we must labour to spread 
through it God's light and truth, till neither error nor 
prejudice remain. We must cheerfully embrace and 
steadily maintain every doctrine that bears the marks 
of a heavenly origin, however humbling it may be to 
the pride of the heart, and though it should be ridicu- 
led and opposed \jy many. The will must be brought 
to such entire acquiescence in the appointments of God, 
that dispensations the most ruinous to our dearest 
earthly comforts, or that impede the fulfilment of our 
eager hopes, muit v.-»lcomed v/ith unfeigned cheer- 
fulness. The proud and vehement spirit of youth is 
not easily brought to this, yet even over it Christian 
principle hath shewn its power, and the soul h*s be- 
come as a weaned child. 

The imagination must be guarded from every im- 
pure fancy and vain conceit. Presumption and folly 
must not be permitted to hurry it where they please, 
and it must be guided by the suggestions of sobriety 
and wisdom. The conscience must be enlightened 
and purified, and roused from every tendency to lan- 
gour. Instead of attempting to silence its remonstran- 
ces, or to elude its inspection, it must be our care to 
submit all our thoughts and wishes to its review ; to 
direct it by the precepts and the examples of Seripture, 
and to listen with reverence to all its decisions. The 
affections must be formed to spirituality and devo- 



SERM. V. 



A father's GOD. 



83 



tion. The first movements of unhallowed desire must 
be repressed with firmness, and from every object fit* 
ted to excite them, we must withdraw. Objects to 
which we may be innocently attached, we must love 
with an affection subordinate to that with which we 
cleave to God. 

We , must banish from the memory those recollec* 
tions of folly and carnality which give rise, an some 
cases, to so much misery, and in others to so much 
guilt, and lay up there the truths of God's word, the 
wonders of his love, and the giories of his name, 

Now, to accomplish all this, will require labours 
which will appear intolerable to those whose convic* 
tions of their danger are slight and feeble; but remem- 
ber the aid that is promised you in these toils, and 
that they are incomparably easier than the drudgery of 
vice, and think on the happiness which they yield. To 
have God within us displaying his glory, forming his 
image, shedding abroad the blessings of his love, and 
accepting our homage, must be the sweetest happiness 
that can be enjoyed on earth. 

Now, my young friends, have you no wish that God 
may thus dwell in your hearts ? Is it your determina* 
tion to maintain there the dreams of a vain imagina- 
tion, the devices of sensual pleasure, and the love of 
the world's applause ? These dreams will unfit you for 
action and enjoyment, amid the sober realities of life ; 
these devices are the kindling of a fire that will utterly 
consume you, and the phantoms of worldly honour will 
flee from your grasp. It is the height of folly and im- 
piety to devote j^our hearts to such objects, rather than 
to the heavenly tendencies of wisdom and devotion. 
We pray for you that God may give you another spi- 
rity and that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. 
It is our earnest wish that you may say with David, 

1 



ON THE HOMAGE DUE TO 5ERM. V» 



" I will give no sleep to mine eyes, nor slumber to 
mine eye- lids, till I have found out a place for the 
Lord, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob." 1 Let 
the best affections of your Leans be his. 

2. A habitation must be prepared for God in the 
family. It is commonly the first object of the young 
in life to procure advantageous employment, by which 
they - pport themselves without being any longer 
a burdej their parents, and a commodious dwelling 
where they may make the friends happy to whom their 
hearts are attached, Such purposes are favourable to 
sobriety and to industry ; yet still it should be the 
first concern of those whom God is setting in families, 
to seek for them the presence of Him to whom domes* 
tic life owes all its felicity. 

God dwells in a family in the devotion that offers 
the morning and evening sacrifice of worship, in the 
wisdom that searches his word, in the gratitude that 
feels his goodness, in the submission that meekly re- 
ceives his correction, in the contentment that says, " I 
dwell among mine own people," in the zeal that labours 
to form Christ in the heart of every connection, in the 
harmony that results from the meekness and the cha- 
rity of the Gospel, in the cheerfulness which cannot be 
satisfied with a solitary joy, in the piety that acknow- 
ledges him in all their ways, and in the sobriety of 
their modes of living. Though religion requires not 
the austerities, and the mortifications which fanaticism 
hath extolled beyond all its virtues, and permits the 
cheerful use of the bounties of Providence, yet it se- 
verely condemns profusion and excess in every form. 

If you wish God to dwell in your families, the loose 
and the profane must not be harboured there, though 



' Peal, exxxii 4 a 5. 



SERM. V. 



A father's GOD. 



S3 



their manners should be ever so agreeable, and though 
they should possess influence that may be deemed ne* 
cessary to your success in business. They will abuse 
your confidence, lessen your respect for objects which 
you wish to venerate,- and may fatally corrupt the prin- 
ciples and the hearts of those whom you are most soli- 
citous to guard from evil. And in the companions 
you choose for life, let the fear of God be an indispen- 
sible requisite ; for in this you will find a security for 
domestic peace and felicity, beyond the power of beau* 
ty, or wealth, or connections, to give. 

What a blessing and honour to a family is Jehovah's 
residence ! When the joys of domestic intercourse are 
heightened by communion with God ; when you feel 
his oil dropping on your heads, see your table prepared 
by his hand, your cup overflowing by his bounty, and 
your dwelling safe under his shadow ; when, in think- 
ing on your children, and in anxious affection longing 
for their happiness, you hear him promising to be the 
God of your seed, when the cords that shall bind you 
to the partners of your hearts are felt strengthened, 
and consecrated by union to the Redeemer, and when 
heaven is anticipated as your common home, how great 
will be your felicity ! 

There was a solemn rite among the Jews, by which a 
dwelling was dedicated to God ; and it should be the 
purpose of the young to devote their habitations to Him 
when he shall place them in houses of their own. The 
remembrance of this will keep you from the neglect of 
religious worship, and practical piety. Is my house a 
temple of God, and can it be so without praise and 
prayer? Is my house a temple of God, and shall folly 
rage, or the fire of contention burn there i Shall im- 
purity dwell in a place sacred to the Holy One, con- 
tention in a scene devoted to the God of peace, or folly 

H 



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where wisdom should be justified of her children ? The 
language you should use in this dedication of your 
dwellings to God, should be that of Joshua, " As for 
me and my house, we will serve the Lord." 1 

I proceed now to explain the second part of the re- 
solution in the text, " I will exalt him." 

The purest and brightest services of creatures can 
add nothing to the glory of God. The heavenly wor- 
shippers feel, amidst their loftiest anthems, that his 
glorious name is exalted above all blessing and praise ; 
and that, were they doomed to silence, his throne 
would lose none of its splendour. But we may be said 
to exalt the Lord, when we declare his excellence, and 
when we shew that we prefer him to every other ob- 
ject. 

We should exalt the Lord in our minds, by thinking 
of him more frequently and reverentially than we do 
of any other being : We must beware of forming de- 
grading conceptions of his character and ways ; and, 
instead of brooding over the images of a malignant and 
grovelling superstition, let us contemplate his glory as 
it shines in the character of Jesus. 

We should exalt him in our affections, by loving 
him supremely ; " He that loveth father or mother, 
wife or children, brother or sister, more than me, is 
not worthy of me." 4 The kindness of our friends, 
which contributes so much to our happiness, springs 
from the divine goodness ; and all that is amiable in 
the most excellent of our relatives, is but a faint and 
partial resemblance of our Father in heaven. 

We should exalt him in our memories, by recalling 
of all objects and scenes that are past, the displays of 



1 Joi. uiv. 15. 



* Matth. x. 37. 

5 



SERM. V. 



A father's GOD. 



his glory and goodness with most interest and delight, 
and by thinking with regret of the instances in which 
we have offended him, and of the opportunities which 
we have lost of contemplating his excellence. Memo- 
ry is a faculty which soon fails ; I beseech you there- 
fore to rivet on it those impressions of divine things, 
which will remain with you in every vicissitude of life, 
and in all the decays of nature. 

We should exalt him in our wishes, by desiring his 
presence and grace above all things else, by the con- 
tempt with which we regard the folly that never raises 
its longings above earthly objects, and by the resigna- 
tion with which we leave it to him to gratify our de- 
sires at what season and to what degree he pleases. 

We should exalt him in our plans and schemes, by 
aiming to advance his kingdom in the world, by our 
purposes for promoting it in that more private sphere 
in which every man has some influence, and by main- 
taining a constant sense of our dependence on him for 
the success of every worldly arrangement. 

We should exalt him in our praises. While the 
vain-glorious delight to speak in their own commenda- 
tion, and the flatterer applauds those whom he despi- 
ses in his heart, the pious man magnifies the Lord 
with fervid praise. In the psalm of devotion he is 
never silent. But he deems it his duty to speak of God, 
in his common discourse, in the language of reverence 
and submission, and carefully to avoid the familiarity 
that degrades sacred things. The young are often 
urged to learn songs, which describe the pleasures of 
jollity in a manner calculated to stimulate intempe- 
rance ; and there are songs in which the graces of 
poetry and music are employed, to aid the enchantments 
of licentious gaiety, and to shake the firmness of virtu- 
ous principle. There are songs, also descriptive of the 



38 



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V. 



perils and the triumphs of war, which inflame the mind 
with unchristian malignity, and produce a disrelish for 
the milder virtues. Such ballads should be left to the 
children of this world. Let the songs of Zion be your 
delight, and never think but with abhorrence of the 
spirit of those, who will join with eagerness in the mu- 
sic of the festive circle, but disdain to open their lips 
to be heard with the vulgar in the house of God. 

We sh©uld exalt the Lord in our conduct. We 
should exalt his lav/, by obeying God rather than man; 
and his favour, by making it the chief object of our 
pursuit, and by sacrificing every thing that displeases 
him. We should exalt him in his doctrines, by study- 
ing them with the closest attention ; in his ordinances, 
by our regular and serious attendance ; and in his pro* 
ridential arrargements, by believing and acknowledg- 
ing their wis Join and their rectitude. We should ex- 
alt him in our friendships, by choosing for our eom* 
pardons the fearers of his name, and " whether we eat 
or drink, or whatever we do, we must do all to the 
glory of God." 3 

Thus to exalt the Lord, must be our exercise while 
we live. c< The dead cannot praise God, and the grave 
cannot celebrate Him." Though the worship of good 
men in heaven far excels that of earth, in elevation, 
harmony, fervour, and constancy ; yet there are none 
around them in that world to be warmed by their glow, 
to be raised by their elevation, or won to the work of 
praise by their melody. This is a consideration which 
stamps peculiar importance on those exercises by which 
we may benefit our fellow creatures, who are involved 
in guilt and misery; that it is here alone that we shall 



* 1 Cor. *. $h 



SERM. V. 



A FATHER'S GOD. 



89 



have an opportunity of testifying the compassion with 
which we regard them. 

II. Let me now recommend the imitation of this re- 
solution by some motives. 1. You should exalt the 
Lord, and prepare him a habitation, for he is your 
God. He has a right to these marks of homage and 
affection from his own supreme excellence, as well as 
from what he hath done for us, and the subjection 
which we have vowed to him when we said, " The 
Lord is my God." Shall we lavish our praises on ob- 
jects vain and trivial, and withhold them from Him 
who is the best of beings ? He is our Maker, and the 
lips that he hath formed should praise Him. He is 
the Father of our spirits, and they ought to adore 
him. He is our preserver, and shall he be excluded 
from the dwelling which he fills with goodness i He 
is our Redeemer, and shall not we glorify him with 
our bodies, and with our spirits, which are his ? 

You have also avouched the Lord to be your God, 
and how shameful will it be if the irreligion of your 
dwellings, and the wickedness of your lives, declare 
that this act of solemn devotion was but a form, in- 
tended for the purposes of deceit, or for stilling the 
clamours of conscience. I trust that while your words 
were good, your hearts were sincere, and that this is 
now your language, " O my soul, thou hast said untq 
the Lord, thou art my Lord, and never shall this 
claim be forgotten, or retracted, or falsified in my 
conduct. This can never be the case, till I am lost to 
all truth and principle, and insensible to all that is 
captivating in excellence, solemn in obligation, and al- 
luring in mercy/* 

2. You should exalt the Lord, and prepare him a 
habitation, for he is your father's God. He is the 
God to whom your fathers were devoted. You feel 



90 



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££RM. V. 



your hearts glow in the presence of those to whom 
your fathers were attached, and the walks which 
they delighted to tread, and the books which they 
loved to read arc dear to you; and shall you not 
reverence and exalt the Being whom they regard- 
ed as their all, and value those ordinances which they 
preferred to their chiefest joy? Some of your fa- 
thers may have left behind them memorials of their 
giving themselves to the Lord, and these call- you to a 
similar act of holy dedication. There are passages 
which they marked in books, and especially texts in 
the sacred volume, which revived their hopes in the 
season of despondency, and strengthened them for 
painful sacrifices, and surely these will have some in- 
fluence on you. 

When you think of the psalms which your fathers 
were accustomed to sing, and the prayers which they 
poured out before the Lord, you must surely feel some 
impulse to devotion. Your father's house was a house 
of prayer, and shall it cease to be so ? Your father's 
companions were the wise, the sober, and the good ; 
and shall the slanderer or the sensualist remain within 
your walls, or he that telleth lies tarry in your sight ? 
The Sabbaths of your fathers were holy to the Lord,, 
and shall that dwelling which was in their life a " lit- 
tle sanctuary," be left by you on that day for the 
house of feasting, or be profaned by a carousal with 
your friends ? 

Some before me have lately lost pious fathers, and 
what were your reflections while the dead corpse lay 
before you ? You thought how you had seen the stif- 
fened hands lifted up in God's name, that from these 
lips now closed you had often heard the language of 
devotion, and that the heart, cold and motionless, had 
often trembled at Jehovah's word, and melted at his 
goodness ; and did not such purposes as these arise 



SEAM. fH 



A FATHER'S Ct6». 



within you, " I will devote myself to the Being 
whom my father served, and to the work which my 
father loved ?" Nothing appeared to you then so de* 
sirable as to live as he lived, and to die as he died^ 
and shall such views or feelings ever change ? 

He is stHl your father's God, the guardian of their 
sleeping dust, and the portion of their immortal spirit. 
In his presence the soul of your father is happy, and 
his flesh m the grave rests in hope under his care ; and 
shall kindness, reaching so far beyond the limits of 
human friendship, be disregarded in your hearts, and 
forgotten in your dwelling?' or, does it afford no mat* 
fcer for a song of praise ? 

But Jehovah was the Benefactor of your father; 
You feel a strong attachment to them who shewed 
kindness to your father, who consoled him in sorrow* 
and stood by him when deserted and calumniated by 
others, and shalkyou not be devoted to Him who was 
his friend and guide through life? The image of 
your father, cheerful and happy, is now rising before 
you ; but who inspired that joy ? You have seen your 
father patient in tribulation, but who made him calm 
and tranquil while your hearts were wrung with agony 
at the sight of his suffering ? You saw his hope in 
death, and heard his solemn testimony to the reality 
and power of religion, and to the influence of those 
prospects of glory which left room for no -tears, and no 
pangs but for you. I may add also, that you saw the 
regret which his departure occasioned, and the tears 
which dropp^ with yours into his grave ; and you 
know that it was his God that gave him that unwea- 
ried kindness which brings so many blessings on his 
memory, that sweetness of temper and manners which 
made him the delight of his neighbour,'; ; the prudence 
which rendered him so useful in counsel, that purity 



OX THE HOMAGE DUE TO 



SER>r. V. 



of character which malice could not impeach, and that 
death in peace for which the happiest on earth might 
pray. Now, from what God hath done for your fa- 
thers, though he had done nothing for yourselves, you 
are bound to serve him. The Divine goodness shines 
in their songs on high, but they wish it to appear in 
your worship and conduct. Were regret possible in 
heaven, it would arise in a pious father, from the 
thought that the stones of memorial which he raised to 
perpetuate his grateful testimony to Jehovah's grace, 
had been suffered to sink into the dust, and that the 
spirit of religion had left his dwelling when his breath 
went forth. If the redeemed on high are conscious of 
what passes below, they will not mark with indifference 
their spirit operating in their children's conduct, or 
their mercies celebrated in their children's song. 

I only add, that this was the earnest desire of your 
fathers, that their God might be yours. You know 
what a variety of methods they employed to lead you 
to God and goodness ; and there was not an exhorta- 
tion which they gave you, nor a prayer which they of- 
fered up by your side, in which this wish was not ap- 
parent. Often also was this wish expressed before 
God in supplications you never heard, and in tears 
which you never saw. And shall their wishes and 
efforts be all in vain ? Though you should not be 
saved, they will be glorious in the eyes of the Lord ; 
yet this is the object on which their hearts were set, 
that you might have one God, one spirit, and one 
home with them for ever. Now can ^u be insen- 
sible to such motives, or contemn all that should in- 
fluence you in a father's piety, in the memory of a fa- 
ther in the grave, and in the happiness of a father in 
heaven ? 

3. Consider the peculiar pleasures which the fulfil- 



SEKM. V. 



A FATHER'S GOD. 



93 



ment of this resolution will yield you in early life. 
How delightful are the joys of religion to the vivid 
feelings of youth ! How charming are its graces to the 
glowing fancy which the Spirit of God hath purified 
and regulated ! If when the mind is enfeebled and 
broken by anxiety and disappointment, the pleasures 
of religion can brighten the sunk eye, and gladden the 
heart which thought it had tasted of its last joys be- 
low, what must be their influence on those with whom 
life is in its fairest bloom ? It is at this season that 
the mind is peculiarly susceptible of admiration of 
what is great, and in which the attachments of the 
heart are most ardent ; and no admiration can yield 
such sublime transport, as the admiration of Jehovah, 
and no affection can bless the heart like his love. It 
is in the morning that the plants yield the sweetest 
fragrance, that the fields wear the loveliest verdure, 
and that the birds which sing among the branches war* 
ble their most delightful notes ; and it is in youth that 
religious truths are contemplated with the most plea* 
sing interest, and that its services are performed with 
the most felicitous emotions. 

4. Consider the advantages which will result from 
your adopting this resolution. It will guard you from 
those pernicious associations which are productive of so 
much misery. The companions of your choice, and 
the friends of your hearts, will not be the indolent, the 
vain, and the dissipated, to whom seriousness is but 
another name for gloom, and whom no sounds charm 
but those of gaiety and adulation ; but they will be 
those in whom the image of God is apparent, and whom 
you can love for his sake. You cannot bear to asso- 
ciate with those who speak contemptuously of an earth- 
ly friend ; but with those who give him the praise he 
deserves, you delight to mingle ; and if your love ta 



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ON THE HOMAGE DUE TO 



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God is sincere, no society will be pleasant to you but 
that in which the glory is given to him that is due to 
his name. 

Besides, the spirit and practice of domestic piety 
will keep you from indulging in frequent and unneces- 
sary absence from home. " As a bird that wandereth 
from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his 
place." 4 Practices may be introduced, and habits may 
be formed during a parent's absence, which he may 
find it difficult and painful to banish, and his culture is 
necessary to strengthen good dispositions. A good 
man, when absent from his dwelling, has no recollec- 
tions more pleasant than those which relate to the rites 
of domestic worship ; and morning and evening his 
heart is at the altar, where he used to pour it out be- 
fore the Lord surrounded by those he loves. 

You may change your habitation for a place of abode, 
where you may meet with more obstruction in the per- 
formance of the domestic offices of religion ; but the 
spirit of piety will " make darkness light before you, 
and crooked things straight/' The relations may be 
removed from your dwelling whose presence you deem- 
ed essential to your happiness, but the spirit of the text 
operating within you will make you conscious of a pre- 
sent Deity, and draw from your hearts and lips the 
sweet and animating song, " The Lord liveth, blessed 
be my rock, and let the God of my salvation be ex- 
alted." 5 

The adopting of this resolution will keep you from 
frequenting dwellings where a spirit and manners pre- 
vail inconsistent with those which you love to cherish, 
and no promise of enjoyment will induce you to min- 
gle in the festivity of families where the forms of reli- 



Frov, xxvii. 8* 



*> Psalm xviii. 46, 



S£RM. V. 



A father's GOD. 



95 



gion are disregarded, and where its power is talked of 
with scorn. The foolish and the malignant may talk 
with contempt of the low circumstances of those who 
visit you in your dwellings, but remember that es the 
righteous is more excellent than his neighbour," and 
that Jesus hath said, " If any man love me, he will 
keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we 
will come to him, and make our abode with him." 6 
Thus blessed at home, you will be under no necessity 
of seeking happiness abroad ; and engaged in magnify- 
ing the best of beings, you will not degrade yourselves 
by offering to worldly vanities the sacrifice of fools, 
but will be desirous ever to walk as becomes the asso- 
ciates of angels in the work of praise. 

5. Consider what will be the consequences of your 
refusing to adopt this resolution. Your hearts will be 
devoted to objects very different. Sensual passion may 
bear down the feeble restraints of reason, and hurry 
you to excesses which will soon lay you in the grave. 
If your hearts are bent on the acquisition of worldly 
wealth, success may not attend your efforts ; and if it 
should, how low are your gains in reality, and how con- 
temptible in the estimation of the dying ! Should 
your attention be turned to the pursuit of science, you 
will move on without that guide who would have sanc- 
tified your contemplations, and led you to the know- 
ledge that is life eternal. You may imagine that you 
have every security for domestic happiness without re- 
ligion, but in your gayest hours you will find yourselves 
restless and dissatisfied ; and when your dwelling shall 
become a house of mourning, you will apply to world- 
ly advantages in vain to comfort you. Alas ! there is 



6 John xiv. 23. 



#6 ©N THE HOMAGE DUE TO SERM. V. 

nothing in them adapted for days of darkness, or for a 
broken heart. 

Should you in the hour of calamity call on God, he 
may say, " Go to the gods whom ye have chosen, and 
let them deliver you out of your tribulation/' And 
you can have no hope of heaven if you live here unac- 
quainted with its spirit and its exercise. Heaven could 
not render him happy to whom the praise of God is 
tiresome, and the society of the good offensive. A very 
different abode, and very opposite society, shall be al- 
lotted to those who live and die without God, even the 
prison of torment, and the company of the devil and 
his angels. 

I shall now conclude the discourse with a few ex- 
hortations. 

1. Let me intreat the young, who have not yet 
adopted the resolution of Moses, to consider these mo- 
tives with serious attention. Think what years of hap- 
piness you have lost by your past folly. Say not that, 
if you had been religious, they would have been days 
of continual restraint and mortification. Your own 
eonsciences will repel the false suggestion, and tell you, 
in language too solemn for you to contemn, that " wis- 
dom's ways are ways of pleasantness." 

I would also assure you, that the longer you delay 
acting the part of Moses, you will find it the more dif- 
ficult, and there will be the less likelihood of your ma- 
king the attempt. The heart, long subject to corrup- 
tion, is seldom swept and garnished for Jehovah's 
abode. The habitual blasphemer has had his mouth 
full of cursing and bitterness even in his last hour. In 
the family where religion has been habitually disre- 
garded, its members sink into the grave, without ex- 
citing one serious thought in the survivors, and amidst 



S%RM. V. 



A father's GOD* 



97 



the most delusive assurances of mercy. God is angry 
with you. Ye will not exalt him, and he will clothe 
you with shame. It will be in vain for you to cry, 
Lord, Lord. You may use this language, and in the 
height of your presumption call him your Lord, but he 
will disown you ; and should you cry to your parents 
by his side, *' Intreat now the face of the Lord your 
God, and pray for us/' they will declare that their in- 
terest in you is for ever terminated, and that they 
leave you to the associates and to the fate you have 
chosen. Such will your state be when the day of sal- 
vation is ended. Arise now, therefore, and, in the spi- 
rit of the returning prodigal, go to your Father. 

2. Let the young, who have adopted this resolution, 
be thankful for the grace that inclined them to act in 
this manner. Your praises are low and feeble, but he 
will accept them ; and mean as the abode is which you 
have prepared for him, he will dwell there. Let his 
condescension excite your wonder, and elevate your 
praise. Be more fervid than you have ever yet been 
in acts of devotion, and more vigilant in keeping your 
hearts. You have received mercies from your God 
which are known to no hearts but your own ; and when 
you die, all praise for these will cease as to this world ; 
and shall you not abound more and more in this ser- 
vice of gratitude and love ? Never deem it of little 
importance that you are absent from some of the songs 
of Zion, and say not that you will have sufficient op- 
portunities of praise besides these. Though you were 
certain you would live as long as the oldest around you, 
that period is nothing to the silence of the grave. 
Churches by the side of your graves will echo with the 
hymn of devotion ; but the sound will not reach your 
house of silence. Let the seriousness of your spirits 
be apparent in your conversation in your families ; let 



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SERM. V. 



the delicacy of your manners bear witness to the pu- 
rity of your hearts ; and let the benignity and kindness 
that bless your dwellings make all happy with whom 
you associate in the intercourse of life. Look forward 
to the world where God hath prepared for you a city, 
and where your praises shall be more suited to his ex- 
cellence, and more delightful to your feelings. 

3. This subject suggests many exhortations to pa- 
rents who are irreligious. You deprive children of a 
very strong motive which might induce them to walk 
in the fear of Gcd. And can you bear the thought of 
leaving no trace in your dwelling to remind those that 
come after you, that surely the fear of the Lord was 
in this place ? Can you bear the thought of leading 
such a life, that if this question is put to your children 
when you are gone, " Your fathers, where are they V 
the force of truth should compel them to shudder at 
the probability of your perdition ? I exhort you for 
your own sake, and for the sake of those who are 
dear to you, to take the Lord for your God, and to 
consecrate your hearts and your dwellings to him. 
And let serious parents be more zealous in the work 
of the Lord ; for thus religion will multiply its bless- 
ings, and your children will have increasing evidence 
of your worth. Sweet is the testimony which, in their 
purposes of holiness, they will bear to your piety. And 
in your families may these words be realized, " If the 
first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy ; and if the 
root be holy, so are the branches." 1 

4. Let not the children of irreligious parents imagine, 
that for them there is no hope. You want many of 
the advantages which are enjoyed by the children of 
the religious ; but if you do not follow the steps of a 



1 Rom. xi. 16. 



SERM. V. 



A father's GOD. 



99 



wicked father, you shall not bear his iniquity ; and if 
3'ou devote yourselves to God, he will not reject yoiu 
In the house of Jeroboam there was an Abijah, in 
whom " there was found some good thing towards the 
Lord God of Israel f z and do you not wish that it 
may be thus with you? {i Thy father is an Amorite, 
and thy mother an Hittite f yet " come out from 
among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the 
unclean thing, and God will receive you, and he will be 
a Father to you, and ye shall be his sons and his daugh- 
ters." 3 You may have neither father nor mother to 
eare for your soul ; but in Jesus Christ you will have a 
friend who will take the most affectionate and power- 
ful interest in your welfare. It will be most honour- 
able to you to introduce the rites of religion into a 
dwelling where they have been unknown, and to sup- 
ply, by your deeds of charity, what your fathers ought 
to have clone in society, God is willing to cut you off 
from the olive tree which is wild by nature, and to 
graft you into the good olive, that you may partake of 
its root and fatness* Accept his offers of grace, and 
give yourselves first to the Lord. 

5. Let those who are in middle life devote them- 
selves to godliness. If you have been hitherto deaf to 
the calls of heaven, disrega d them no longer. You 
have been saying " to the gold, thou art my hope, and 
to the fine gold, thou art my confidence f* but that 
confidence will disappoint you, and that hope will 
make you ashamed. I beseech you to receive the wis- 
dom that is better than rubies, and to cultivate the 
godliness which is profitable to all things. 

Finally. Let aged sinners consider the lessons of this 
text. Your hearts are now cold to all your former de« 



2 1 Kings xiv, 13. 



3 2 Cor. v. 18. 



100 ON THE HOMAGE, &C. SERM. V. 

lights; and what promised you perpetual enjoyment 
hath long since passed away. Your day is declining, 
and your sky is black and lowering ; the night of death 
is coming, in which no man can work ; and you have 
neither reflection nor hope to cheer you. Much rea- 
son have you to fear, that, as you thought not a long 
life too much for sinning against God, he may doom 
you to be miserable for ever. Arise now, for it is the 
eleventh hour, and solicit that grace which is mighty 
to save. The daughters of music are brought low, but 
God will not despise your psalm of penitence. Your 
hearts have long been the abode of every wicked pro- 
pensity; but he can make them habitations of righte- 
ousness. Your families have long been mingled with 
those that call not on God's name, and exposed to the 
curse denounced against all such dwellings ; yet he can 
form a church in your houses, and raise in them a seed 
to serve him. " Give glory to the Lord your God, 
ere he cause darkness, and your feet stumble on the 
dark mountains ; and when ye~ look for light, he turn 
it to the shadow of death, and make it gross dark- 
less." * 



* Jer. xiii» 1,6. 



SERM. VI. DUTIES. OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS. 101 



SERMON VI. 

ON THE DUTIES OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS. 



Gen. xxiv, 60. 

«« And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our 
sister." * 

The descriptions of domestic scenes which the sacred 
writers have given us, excite peculiar interest. They 
are not the pictures of fancy, like the glowing repre- 
sentations which some writers have exhibited of the 
state of barbarous nations, who have decked the wilds 
of the savage with the charms of paradise, and given 
to manners and habits, ferocious and impure, the mild- 
ness and the delicacy of benignity and innoecnce. The 
sacred historians shew us human nature as it really is ; 
and while they present to us some dwellings blessed 
by the power of devotion and love, they exhibit to us 
others defiled and distracted by malignant passions. 
They carry us back to the earliest stages of society ; and, 
amidst the refinement and the indulgences of modern 
times, the heart delights to follow the steps of the Pa- 
triarchs, to enter their tents, and to mark hospitality 
and religion in their simplest forms. We feel as if we 
were in another world ; and that, if much has been 
gained in the progress of society, something has been 
lost which gave a charm to its ru.ier stages. 

In this chapter we have a very beautiful narrative of 



ON THE DUTIES OF 



SERM. XI. 



the journey of Abraham's servant to the place where 
his master's kindred dwelt, and of his returning with 
Rebekah to be the wife of Isaac. The text describes 
the conduct of her brother and friends in parting with 
her, and the blessings and kind wishes with which they 
sent her away. From the manner in which they part- 
ed, we may conclude that their intercourse had been 
affectionate and beneficial, and that, when they were 
separated by the arrangements of Providence, they 
would still cherish for each other every sentiment of 
kindness. 

It is not my intention to make any other remarks on 
this narrative ; but in this discourse I shall endeavour 
to set before you the duties which brothers and sisters 
owe to each other ; and may the grace of God incline 
those whom I am to address to receive and to obey 
the counsels and injunctions which are now to be spo- 
ken in his name ! 

1. It is the duty of brothers and sisters to delight 
in each others society, and readily to share their com- 
forts with each other. I do not say that the young 
should seek no other companions, but they should 
cultivate no friendship to the neglect of their own re- 
lations. In other companions, treachery may lurk un- 
der the smile of complaisance, and speak in the com- 
pliments of flattery, but you will assuredly find sin- 
cerity in domestic intercourse. The kindness of the 
heart beams in a sister's smile, and speaks in a bro- 
ther's praise. Even when new connections have brought 
you into another circle, let there be a place kept in 
your hearts, and at your table, for your earliest friends. 
Should Providence raise you to affluence, or station, 
superior to some of them, you will degrade yourselves 
by acting to them with haughtiness or reserve. There 
is no unkindness, and no contempt, that will affect 



SERM. VI. 



BROTHERS AND SISTERS. 



103 



them so painfully as yours. The stronger our claim is 
to kindness and attention, the more deeply do we feel 
opposite treatment. It will give the worst impression 
of your hearts to those around you, and they will say 
that none can depend on your friendship or your care, 
when you are capable of acting thus coldly and harshly 
to such near connections. Your hearts must be sadly 
corrupted, if ever the remembrance of the scenes that 
passed under a father's roof ceases to interest you, and 
you find no pleasure in the sight of objects that recal 
these to your thoughts. The selfish principle pleads 
strongly for the limitation of our advantages to our- 
selves, but nature and charity assert the right of 
others to share them ; and far sweeter in possession 
are the comforts in which they participate, than those 
which the grasp of avarice keeps from the sight of 
every eye, and the touch of every hand but its own. 
The selfish man regards this as a dream, and all at- 
tempts to convince him how much he would promote 
his own enjoyment, by liberal feelings and conduct to 
others, are generally as vain as the appeals that are 
made to his conscience on the duty and the obligations 
of beneficence ; but I trust it will be your care in the 
various walks of life in which you are called to move, 
to do good and to communicate, and to seek your 
happiness in making others happy. 

There have been brothers and sisters so estranged 
from each other, that they have never met during 
many years ; and the only event which brings those 
together who were cherished in the same bosom, is 
the funeral solemnity of one of them* It is scarcely 
possible that any thing can occur, which can justify 
such a total estrangement. Too often the causes 
which give rise to it are of the most frivolous nature. 
But are relations and friends the only persons with re* 



104 ON THE DUTIES OP SEftM. Vf. 

gard to whom no forbearance is to be exercised, and 
no forgiveness is to be granted ? and will He who 
commands us to seek a prompt reconciliation with a 
neighbour at variance with us, hold you guiltless if 
you live in estrangement from your relatives, and in 
hostility to them ? 

Books have been written in a form adapted to catch 
the fancy of the young, in which the claims of our 
kindred to our friendship have been strenuously op~ 
posed, and in some of them pictures are drawn of 
brothers and sisters acting with horrid deceit and 
cruelty to each other. Such publications need not 
surprise us in an age marked by wild licentiousness of 
speculation. It was scarcely to be expected, that the 
vain deceit which had laboured to convulse society, 
would spare families ; that while it tried to hew down 
the branches under w T hich communities were sitting, it 
would pass the humbler ones by which our dwellings 
were shaded. Such books are an attempt to destroy 
morality and happiness in their first principles ; and 
they can only be relished by a mind that delights in 
eccentric speculation, and by a heart that is dead to 
the voice of nature. 

2. Brothers and sisters should beware of envying 
one another. It might be supposed that envy would 
have no place in hearts so closely united ; but even 
in domestic life its workings have been most fe- 
rocious and cruel. The idea of one member of a fa- 
mily having more of a parent's favour, being more no- 
ticed by those around, end destined to employments 
superior to the rest, has kindled an envy that has de- 
stroyed all the attachments, and all the prospects of 
domestic life. How dreadful were the consequences of 
envy in the family of Jacob ! It was the partiality of 
the old man fondly cherisheu, and imprudently mani- 

1 



SERM. VI. BROTHERS AND SISTERS. 105 

fested to Joseph, that at last extirpated every kind 
feeling from the hearts of his brethren, and prepared 
them for the blackest deeds. Partiality of this kind is 
the most effectual way of ruining the happiness of the 
object which it idolizes, and directs against it the arts 
and the fury of exasperated pride and relentless ma- 
lice. When you are tempted to envy a brother, or a 
sister, because they appear to enjoy more of the no- 
tice of your parents and your friends than you, consi- 
der that this partiality may exist only in your own 
jealous imaginations ; or that if it is real, it is proba- 
bly owing to their possessing excellencies which you 
have been at no pains to cultivate, and to their acting 
in a manner which you will not follow. Men are 
prone to flatter themselves in their own eyes, and to 
depreciate the merits which are preferred to theirs. 
Be just to the claims of your relatives, and believe 
that the calls which urge you to imitate them, and the 
wishes which are expressed that you were like them, 
are not the taunts of a foolish and insulting partiality, 
but the effusions of an enlightened affection, which 
cannot be blind to your faults, and which is earnestly 
desirous to find you worthy of its praise. 

The sphere of employment allotted to a brother, is 
perhaps superior to yours, but it is surely a natural 
supposition that he possesses qualifications for it which 
you want, and that to place you where he is, would 
only render you despised and unhappy. You may 
not have the patience, the wisdom, and the activity 
necessary for the duties of his office ; to one of your 
temper its temptations might have been peculiarly 
dangerous, and its enjoyments may not be suited to 
your taste, or of such a kind as would have rendered 
you happy. The various circumstances of our lot, are 
not the result of chance, but the arrangements of a Pro-. 



106 



ON THE DUTIES OF 



SERM. VI. 



violence which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in 
working, 

o 

It is perhaps true that you are treated with injustice, 
yet it is only by meekness and patience, that you can 
expect his gracious interference in your behalf, who is 
no respecter of persons, and with whom the outcasts of 
human caprice, and the victims of human oppression, 
find mercy. You will provoke Him to anger by dis- 
content and envy, whose favour is of far more im- 
portance to you than the best affections of every hu- 
man heart, and who can degrade you far lower than 
all the efforts of created power can crush you. Let 
your conscience, your temper, and manners, attest 
your regard to that precept, which while it extends to 
the whole intercourse of society, ought to operate with 
peculiar force among friends and relatives, ce Be 
kindly affectioned one to another, with brotherly love, 
in honour preferring one another." 1 Envy in domestic 
life will be fatal to its innocence, and peace like the ser- 
pent in Eden ; and its venom infuriates and tortures 
every heart into which it is permitted to insinuate. 

3. It is the duty of brothers and sisters to admonish 
one another for their faults. There are failings in the 
temper, and defects in the manners, which are con- 
cealed with care from the eyes of the world, but which 
are apparent amidst the ease and the freedom of do- 
mestic life. There men are accustomed to express 
their opinions, and to discover their feelings with less 
reserve. It is here that discontent will utter thSse 
murmurs which pride suppresses while they mingle in 
society. It is here that envy will express its malig- 
nant surmises, and wishes respecting the prosperity of 
others, which policy conceals in the presence of neigh* 



1 Rom. xii. 10. 



SERM. VI. 



BROTHERS AND SISTERS. 



107 



bours ; and here peevishness and anger are sometimes 
shewn in a very foolish and sinful manner, by those 
who, in the public intercourse of life, maintain great 
command of temper. 

It is your duty to reprove for such faults, and it is 
a peculiar advantage which you have, that love will 
give a softness and a meekness to your admonitions* 
which will secure to them a favourable reception. It 
cannot be imagined that such reprovers are disposed 
to aggravate our faults, or that they wish to arrogate 
any domineering controul. The consciousness which 
we have of their piety and worth, will give greater 
weight to their disapprobation of what is wrong, than 
we would attach to that of others whom we had less 
opportunities of knowing, and whose reproofs we might 
ascribe to unworthy motives. 

Those faults of ours which are obvious to the world, 
our neighbours and acquaintances may be afraid to 
reprehend, and they will consider you as especially 
bound to perform this necessary office. You know 
how eager men are to devolve unpleasant duties upon 
others, and to think themselves warranted to " let 
those alone," about whose conduct friends shew no so- 
licitude. If you say, " Am I my brother's keeper }" a 
stranger will not submit to the anxiety and the trouble 
of being his guardian. If follies are not checked at 
home, or by strangers, they will settle into habits* 
None of you can be ignorant of the progressive nature 
of sin ; and that the most shocking excesses have been 
at last committed by those who were indulged in vio- 
lence of temper, and levities of behaviour, under the 
absurd idea that these would never lead them into 
vices and crimes. Faults which the gentle admoni- 
tions of friendship were never employed to correct, will 
probably even in this world be punished by a rougher 



108 



ON THE DUTIES OF 



SERM. VI. 



hand. The indolence from , which the young were 
never roused, has kept them all their after days in po- 
verty ; and the pride which was never repressed, has 
rendered them odious. Never let affection render you 
blind to the deformity of sin, or induce you to palliate 
what you ought decidedly to condemn. 

The indiscretions and errors of brothers and sisters 
will reflect disgrace on you, if you might have checked 
them but would not. It is unjust, base, and cruel, 
to turn away from those whose friends have acted im- 
properly, and to add public scorn to heart bitterness ; 
but when men restrained not, to the utmost of their 
power, their relatives from wickedness, and exer' A 
not themselves to check the passions that lead to it, 
neither God nor man will hold them guiltless of their 
crimes. There are some who connive at the sins of 
their relatives, and will neither check their faults, nor 
permit this to be done by others. Such persons pre- 
pare for themselves the most agonizing reflections, when 
sin has proved the ruin of those whom they would not 
restrain. In the misery into which vice and folly has 
sunk them, some will thus charge the friends who en- 
couraged them in their evil ways, " Ye fostered in me 
that pride, that love of amusement, those careless ha- 
bits, that aversion to the exercises of religion, that 
fondness for the company of the prodigal, that contempt 
of the counsels of the wise, which disqualified me for 
active exertion and rational enjoyment, and hurried 
me on to destruction. Oh that I had lived under 
the most imperious masters, who would by their rigour 
have subdued my stubbornness and foil} 7 , and in that 
drudger}? which would have effectually repressed the 
pride and the carnality of my heart. It would have 
been better for my soul that I had lived under the 
power of the most malignant and cruel among men, 



SERM VI. BROTHERS AND SISTERS. 1 09 

than among those who were too soft and indulgent to 
give me salutary pain, and who tried to divert away 
that sorrow for my errors which might have wrought 
repentance unto life." 

4. It is the duty of brothers and sisters to sympa- 
thize tenderly with each other. Providence hath so 
framed the human heart, that it requires the aid, and 
rejoices in the comforts of sympathy. The grief which 
we cannot reveal to others, and the pain which we suf- 
fer alone, prey upon us with peculiar severity. It is 
in the assiduous performance of the offices of sympathy, 
that God has provided relief for us under the various 
ills of life, and this wise and gracious appointment, so 
friendly to our comfort and improvement, should in- 
duce us to submit without repining to the sorrows of 
our lot. 

We are bound to shew pity to a stranger's sorrows, 
and more strongly is this required from us to a brother 
or a sister in affliction. How soothing to a sufferer's 
heart are the ministrations of a sister, and the word 
spoken by a brother in season ; and how different are 
the feelings that are excited by the cold enquiries of a 
neighbour, and the anxious questions of affectionate re- 
latives, eager to know his uneasiness, that it may be 
relieved ! Many sacrifices may be required from us 
in the exercise of this sympathy ; and in order to our 
prompt and steady discharge of this duty, we must cul- 
tivate the spirit of self-denial. If attendance on sick 
relatives requires from us sleepless nights, we must be 
willing to watch beside them. If despondency of 
mind, and gloomy forebodings of future evils, require 
the frequent and patient application of the promises of 
religion, we must exhibit these to them without weari- 
ness ; nor should we fret, that by attending on them, 



110 ON THE DUTIES OF SERM. VI. 

we are debarred from gratifications in which we have 
been accustomed to indulge. 

Some have acted a very base part to their sick rela- 
tions. They have left a sick brother or sister, to go to 
scenes of amusement. And could they be happy there ? 
Did the pale face of the sick never rise before their 
minds amid cheeks flushed with pleasure ? Did their 
sighs never reach their ear amid " the voice of singing 
men and singing women?" Yes they have, and the 
heart has cursed the persuasion that led them away 
from their duty, and their own facility in yielding to 
it ; and they have hurried back to their home under 
the torturing apprehension that some fatal crisis may 
have taken place in their absence. If there are hearts 
that can enjoy the scene of gaiety while distress de- 
mands their presence at home, let them know, that if 
conscience is now silent, it will not be always so ; and 
that though a sick relative may disdain to upbrdd 
them for their unkindness, it is deeply felt. The very 
silence of such a sufferer, and his feeble efforts to ren- 
der his position comfortable, and to mitigate his pain, 
are more intolerable than the severest reproach. Such 
unkindness is generally punished by the solitary an- 
guish of the selfish in the day of their calamity. On 
the other hand, the heart of a brother swells with 
gratitude, when for his sake the invitation to mingle 
in the scene of gaiety is declined, and when our conduct 
says that we couiri not be at rest from his side. 

Some know a bitterness of the heart which cannot 
be told to the world, and which if not disclosed to 
friends, and alleviated by their sympathy, will impair 
the health, and may destroy reason. Encourage them to 
pour out their complaint, and let wisdom and kindness 
suggest such counsels as are likely to give them relief. 

1 



SEEM. VI. 



BROTHERS AND SISTERS. 



Ill 



It is unwise to make light of their anguish, for this 
will lead them to imagine that you are selfish and un- 
feeling. At the same time endeavour to keep them 
from aggravating their sorrows, by unreasonable fears 
or causeless gloom : Let them see that you are willing 
to bear their burdens, and that it is no vain assurance 
when you tell them that their sorrows are yours. 

5. It is the duty of brothers and sisters to labour to 
promote the religious and moral improvement of each 
other. If we are bound to communicate to our neigh- 
bours the knowledge of God, it must be much more our 
duty to labour to make those wise to salvation, with 
whom we are connected by ties so strong and so ten- 
der. It is incumbent on a brother to enrich the mind, 
and to cultivate the pious feelings of a sister's heart, 
by directing her to books adapted for this purpose, 
and by judicious and edifying conversation. Let not 
pride of understanding, or sullen reserve, withhold 
that information which might improve or interest. 
Sarcastic ridicule will make them resolve that they 
will never again lay open their difficulties before you. 
Such scorn is base and groundless, for had they been 
favoured with your opportunities, their acquirements 
might have surpassed yours. The more they improve 
in intelligence, their conversation will be the more gra- 
tifying, and your ardour for knowledge may be stimu- 
lated by theirs. 

Let sisters consider how much the persuasive lan- 
guage of mildness and affection is adapted to form the 
roughest and most impetuous tempers to meekness of 
wisdom ; and that their remarks may direct a brother's 
attention to sentiments full of beauty and feeling, 
which they have overlooked. There is reason to fear, 
that in the ardour of speculation, too little attention 
may be paid to the influence of the truth in exciting 



112 



ON THE DUTIES OF 



SERM. VI. 



pious and benevolent emotion, and from the keener 
sensibilities of the female heart, that influence will be 
exhibited before him in such a manner, as may lead 
him to combine a desire to feel the power of religion, 
with the diligent study of its evidences and doctrines. 

Conversation in families is too often frivolous, and 
in some of them it is occupied with censures on the 
characters of others, which feed the malignant passions 
of the heart, or with such injudicious praise as is cal- 
culated to inspire fatae ideas of excellence. Let your 
speech be always marked by wisdom and grace. 

Brothers and sisters should pray for each other, and 
for those blessings especially which seem best suited to 
their respective circumstances. Love will give fervour 
to such prayers. Prayer will guard you from deficiency 
in your duty, and will strengthen every affectionate 
wish, and animate every effort for mutual improvement 
In the most solemn moments of your lives, let not 
such near connections be forgotten. 

When members of families attend at the same place 
of worship, many of the truths of religion may be 
brought again into view, by the detail of what each re- 
collects, in the serious conversation of a Sabbath even- 
ing; and when they differ in their views of some to- 
pics, these should never be subjects of contention. 
When you agree in so many things, there is surely am- 
ple scope for conversation, without interfering with the 
peculiar tenets of any. Nothing is more destructive 
to family peace, than the fanaticism which demands a 
conformity in every iota to its opinions and rites ; and 
nothing tends more to harden the heart than party 
spirit and sectarian animosity. Let the salvation of 
each other occupy your chief attention. It is mourn- 
ful to think that this grand concern is overlooked by 
multitudes, and that no more solicitude is expressed by 



SERM. VI. BROTHERS AND SISTERS. 115 

some about the eternal salvation of a brother or a sis- 
ter, than if there was no existence for man beyond the 
grave. Can you bear the thought of those dear to your 
hearts perishing for ever, and dropping from your side 
into hell ! I know you cannot, and I beseech you to 
employ all the means of salvation for them, and for 
yourselves. Their salvation will gratify your best feel- 
ings in time and eternity. A great man of God said 
with the liveliest emotions, when he was dying, " I have 
a father, a mother, and ten brethren and sisters in 
heaven, and I shall be the eleventh." Such a hope as 
this comprises almost all that is dear to nature and to 
grace. 

6. Brothers and sisters should vie with each other 
in promoting the comfort of parents. tc Honour thy fa- 
ther and thy mother" is a precept which God has placed 
at the head of the second table of the law, and which 
he has enforced by a promise of a long and prosperous 
life. You owe to your parents respect to their autho- 
rity, compassion to their infirmities, attention to their 
wishes, solicitude to give them all necessary aid, and re- 
verence and love undiminished by the decline of their 
faculties ; and in the performance of these duties, your 
credit and peace of mind are deeply interested. It is a 
delightful encomium when it is heard from the lips of 
parents about children, " I cannot tell which of them 
Is kindest to me." It is truly honourable to the cha« 
racters of the young, whom God hath set in families, 
when they vie with each other, who shall be most fre- 
quent in their visits, and most abundant in their liber- 
alities to aged parents in their days of evil. Such per- 
sons will go back to their own dwellings with a lighter 
heart, and they may look forward with hope to the pe- 
riod, when dutiful children shall, by their affectionate 
attentions, promote the comfort #f their declining years. 

Children living under a father's roof should strive 



ON THE DUTIES OF 



SERM. VI. 



who shall do most to lighten a parent's toils, and to en- 
courage a parent's heart. It is indeed the noblest tri- 
bute to children, when a sick and dying parent de- 
clares, " For my comfort, every eye hath been alike 
watchful, and every heart alike solicitous. I cannot 
say in whose arms I would wish to draw my last 
breath, for all have been to me in tenderness and care 
beyond my wishes." Such brothers and sisters may 
join without a pang of remorse in placing a parent's 
corpse in its coffin, and in inscribing on his gravestone 
a united testimony to his character and virtues. Happy 
is that dwelling in which there is not one root of bitter- 
ness among the olive plants around the table, and 
where there are no children of whom parents can com- 
plain, as having disappointed their hopes and broken 
their peace. 

Finally. Brothers and sisters should promote each 
others temporal interests. The law of God commands 
us to promote the temporal interests of our fellow crea- 
tures, as far as it is in our power ; and there is a pe- 
culiar obligation on members of families to forward 
each others advantage. Let them beware of grudging 
the money which a parent may expend in educating 
any one of his family, for a situation which it is thought 
he will fill with credit, or what is given for the com- 
fortable settlement of another in the world, unless it be 
so manifestly disproportioned to the provision he can 
make for the rest, as would render their acquiescence 
in it a sanctioning of injustice. Let brothers beware 
of squandering the money of their parents in folly. It 
is a mournful fact, that to save one profligate child 
from ruin, that property has been expended to which 
alone his sisters could look for the portion of goods 
which fell to their share, and from which younger bro- 
thers expected support and education. A generous nfk 



SERM. VI. 



BROTHERS AND SISTERS. 



115 



fection on their part will urge this sacrifice, but enor- 
mous is his guilt who has left them no alternative but 
this self-denial or his destruction. Check in each 
other every thing that has the appearance of thought- 
lessness and profusion in expending money, and set an 
example of sobriety, judicious economy, and strict at- 
tention to the duties of your station. 

When brothers and sisters are established in families 
of their own, they should be ready to aid one another 
with their influence, their credit, and even with their 
money, when this can be done consistently with a pru- 
dent regard to the interest* of the connections which 
God has given them. While some may have involved 
themselves in embarrassments, or reduced themselves 
to poverty, by supporting imprudently, and to an im- 
proper extent, the sinking credit of a near relation, too 
many, under pretext of avoiding this, have shut their 
bowels of compassion against the unfortunate, and re- 
fused to make the smallest effort for their relief. The 
evil day may come to them, and it will not be in their 
power to look to their own hearts for consolation, cr 
around them for a friend. 

It is not necessary, I trust, to employ many argu- 
ments to recommend these duties to you. The voice 
of nature will urge them on your hearts. Allow me to 
state to you how much the honour of religion is con- 
cerned in your domestic conduct. It has been often 
employed as an argument in support of Christianity, 
that it has the most favourable influence on the virtue 
and happiness of families ; but if you are seen negligent 
and harsh to one another, some near you may be 
tempted to think ill of the religion which you profess, 
and to say, can that be a religion from God which har- 
dens the heart against the claims of nature ? Can this 
be the religion of which it was said, that in its spirit 



116 



ON THE DUTIES OF 



SERM. VI. 



and Author all the families of the earth shall be bles- 
sed ? If their religion is thus bitter at the fountain, 
will its waters sweeten in their progress ? Those who 
have studied Christianity in the New Testament, and 
in the character and temper of Jesus, will not be stag- 
gered by such cavils ; but there are many who judge of 
principles, not by their nature and evidence, but by the 
conduct of those who maintain them. On the other 
hand, every man will think well of that religion, which 
gives gentleness, prudence, and kindness to the man- 
ners, and which, where the censure or the praise of the 
world operates but partially, forms' to all that is pure, 
amiable, and generous, in the retirements of domestic 
life. 

I only add, that your own honour and happiness are 
deeply concerned in your compliance with these coun- 
sels. None will respect those who are deficient in 
duties to which so many principles urge us so strongly ; 
nor can confidence be placed in their faithful discharge 
of what is required in other situations. It will be 
feared that the ill nature which makes relations mis- 
erable, will, in the public intercourse of life, burst 
through the restraints of prudence and civility ; and 
that those who have squandered the money that should 
have been kept sacred for their relatives, will not be 
very scrupulous about intermeddling with the property 
of strangers* But integrity and kindness to your re- 
lations will secure you the confidence of persons of 
every condition. Consider how it gains to the youngs 
universal esteem, if it can be said that they have ful- 
filled every pledge and claim of domestic duty. It is 
in the daughter who has been the ministering angel 
that has cheered a parent's decline, and the sister who 
has guided a brother's inexperience, that the heart of a 
husband can safely confide. And know assured ]y, 



SERM. VI. BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 



117 



that a regard to these counsels of religion, will make 
your dwelling a paradise. The neglect, the rudeness, 
and the treachery of the world, will press on you less 
severely, when you know that there is a kindness that 
loves and cares for you as for itself, which has a balm 
for the heart when rankled by injury, and a voice 
which can soothe uneasiness to rest. 

Let me in concluding this subject exhort those whose 
consciences bear witness to their attention to these du- 
ties, to persevere, and u to abound more and more" 
in these various offices of love. I trust you are in- 
fluenced in your conduct to your relations, by a regard 
to the authority, and the glory of God ; and that 
your Redeemer will consider it as done to himself. 
Imagine not that you are safe from all danger of fail- 
ing in these duties. In an unguarded moment you 
may give a stab to the happiness of those whom you 
]ove as your own souls. Pray for an increasing mea- 
sure of Divine influence to confirm you to the end, 
and to " make you perfect in every good word and 
work." 

There are perhaps some in the audience, whose con- 
sciences are now accusing them of a disregard of these 
duties and obligations. Check not these convictions, 
seek forgiveness from God, and this day let an 
amendment in your temper and conduct commence. 
But perhaps a heart is thus sighing before me, " Alas ! 
the friends whom I treated with unkindness are gone, 
and never since the hour in which I followed them to 
the grave have I felt such remorse for my conduct to 
them as now. It is not the voice of a mortal that I 
have been hearing, but a voice from the tomb calling 
me to account for the negligence and cruelty by which 
I made their life bitter. I remember with as much 
pain as at the moment of separation, what I then felt* 



IIS 



ON THE DUTIES OF 



SERM, VI. 



and said in my heart. Could that pallid countenance 
smile on me once more, how would I value it ! Could 
these closed ears open to my voice, how would I assure 
them of my future kindness ; but they are gone where 
my carelessness and harshness can neither be felt, nor 
lamented." I beseech you to implore, through the 
blood of Christ, pardon for your aggravated guilt, and 
that entire and lasting change in your dispositions and 
conduct, which his Spirit can produce, and in which 
alone you can find rest to your souls. Your ingenuous 
repentance will give your departed friends joy in hea- 
ven ; it will gladden the hearts that sighed over your 
folly, and your unkindness, and through the grace of 
God you will be permitted in due time to enter into 
their bliss, and in the declaration of your Lord's for- 
giveness you shall hear theirs. 

Let us all recollect that we ought to view our brethren 
of mankind as members with us of one great family. 
Let us shew that Christianity doth not narrow the 
heart, that universal benevolence is the spirit which it 
breathes, and that human beings, however distinguish- 
ed, and wherever they are scattered, are made of the 
same blood, and placed under one sway. We ought 
to consider the members of the church as in a pe- 
culiar sense our brethren and sisters, and to shew it 
not by the continual and affected use of the terms, 
but by deeds of substantial kindness. There are some 
sects that are noted for the use of this language ; but 
where it is limited to those with whom they are con- 
nected in church fellowship, there is reason to suspect 
that it is dictated more by the attachment of party, 
than by Christian charity. The bigot may have the 
law of kindness in his mouth, but it sits not gracefully 
there. It is to a chosen few that he assumes the smile 
of kindness, and to all .others he looks with a haughty 



SERM. VI. BROTHERS AND SISTERS. 1V§ 

and ferocious scowl. It is not in word, or in tongue, 
that we are to love, but in deed and in truth. " Put 
on bowels of mercies, humbleness of mind, meekness, 
kindness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, and 
forgiving one another ; if any man have a quarrel 
against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do 
ye. And above all these things put orf charity, which 
is the bond of perfectness." 1 How beautiful and glo- 
rious would the church appear, were its members in- 
fluenced by such a spirit! It would be indeed the 
glory of Christ, the wonder of earth, and the image 
of heaven. May God make it completely and speedily 
all that the children of Zion can wish ! Amen. 



I €61. iil 12— H. 



If 0 THE YOUNG COMFORTED ON SERMv VII. 



SERMON VII. 



THE YOUNG COMFORTED ON THE DEATH OF A 
MOTHER. 



Psalm xxxv. 14. 
" 1 bowed down heavily as one that mourneth for his mother." 

The Psalms of David have been considered by some 
as deeply tinctured with a cruel and revengeful spirit. 
This idea has been strenuously urged by the enemies 
of revelation, and by endeavouring to shew the incon- 
sistency of this with the precepts in the New Testa- 
ment, requiring the love and the forgiveness of ene- 
mies, they have laboured to shake our faith in the 
Divine inspiration of the Scriptures. Many who would 
shudder at the thought of considering the word of God 
as a cunningly devised fable, have felt their minds per- 
plexed by the vindictive p*iss»iie m the Psalms, and 
have been disposed to form unfavourable views of the 
moral feelings of the Psalmist's henrt. But let it be 
considered, that these passages are predictions, and 
that they are not directed against the personal enemies 
of David, but the implacable and impenitent adversa- 
ries of the church. We may conclude from the gene- 
ral strain of David's Psalms, that humanity and mercy 
were the leading feelings of his heart. The ardent love 



SJERM. VII. THE DEATH 0# A MOTHER. 



121 



to the Most High which they display, could not dwell 
in a heart filled with malignity to his creatures ; nor 
could such melting praise of Divine mercy proceed 
from a soul darkened by the black passions of envy 
and revenge. The tears of penitence which we see 
flowing so profusely, could not issue from a heart bent 
en sacrificing others to its pride and fury. 

But let us examine this Psalm, and we will see Da- 
vid displaying a spirit which will bear to be compared 
with the most generous effusions of the apostles or 
martyrs of Jesus. His enemies had acted to him in a 
very cruel manner. They brought the most odious 
charges against him, rewarded him evil for good, and 
rejoiced in his adversity. But what was his behaviour 
to them in the day of their calamity ? He did not say, 
ec Let a guilty conscience torment them when on the 
bed of languishing ; let neither heaven nor earth pity 
their sorrows, and let them go down quick to hell f- but 
the deepest sorrow filled his heart, and the most af- 
fectionate prayers rose from his lips. " As for me, 
when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth ; I 
humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer return- 
ed into mine own bosom ; I behaved myself as though 
he had been my friend or brother ; I bowed down 
heavily as one that mourneth for his mother." What 
can be more noble than this spirit ! ' Here we behold a 
lively figure of that compassionate Redeemer, who, 
when he surveyed the city which was soon to resound 
with the cry for his blood, wept over it; and who 
praye-' for the pardon of his murderers. Let these 
examples of generosity be studied by the young, and 
let them learn from them to controul those resentful 
feelings which are so apt to hurry them into deeds of 
violence against those who have injured them. This 
indeed is no easy task, and the vigorous and painful 



122 



THE YOUNG COMFORTED ON 



SERM. VII. 



efforts which it requires can scarcely be conceived by 
the tame and the frigid ; but there is a Divine in- 
fluence which will be vouchsafed to them that ask it, 
to aid reason and goodness in their conflict with pas- 
sion. If it be the most difficult of all lessons for the 
proud, ardent, and impetuous spirit of youth to learn 
to do good to them that despitefully use them and 
persecute them, still the attainment of this meekness 
and charity is practicable ; and where it is acquired it 
is the most valuable distinction of the character. 

The text intimates that the death of a mother 
awakens peculiar sorrow ; and who that has lost one 
will call this in question ? To such persons a discourse 
on this topic will be suitable, and perhaps consoling ; 
and as for those of the young who are still happy in 
the society of a mother, it may prepare them for the 
separation that must come, and guard them from the 
misconduct which may aggravate this sorrow. 

A mother is the friend to whom the young unbosom 
all their cares, and on whom they lean with peculiar 
trust. The loss of a mother is a calamity which many 
of them are called to bear at this season of life, end it 
overwhelms them with a sorrow more severe than any 
they ever felt before. I have seen the anxious fond- 
ness with which some of you have clung to a dying 
mother, and the tears and the sobs that were mingled 
with your last farewell. 1 have seen your counte- 
nances long saddened with grief, and the eagerness 
with which you listened to the hopes of the Gospel ; 
ai)d if ihis discourse shall open the woun.'s of the 
heart, may it drop into them the balm of heavenly 
comfort. 

In the following discourse I shall first shew what in 
the death of a mother excites such deepitgiet; and, 

4 



SERM. Vil. 



THE DEATH OF A MOTHER. 



US 



secondly, I shall point out where suitable consolation 
is to be sought and obtained under such a loss. 

I. What is there in the death of a mother that ex* 
cites peculiar sorrow ? 1st, The want of the expres- 
sions of a mother's affection makes the heart bow down 
heavily for her loss. The idea of being beloved by a 
fellow creature is pleasing, and there are few who 
could bear the thought that they were objects of in- 
difference to every human being, and that there was 
not one heart that wished or sought their good. The 
attachment of others is prized by us in proportion to 
the opinion we form of its warmth, its sincerity, the 
worth of him who feels it, and the manner in which 
it has been expressed ; but no affection will be valued 
by the heart like a mother's. The friendship of others 
may be only a pretence, and their protestations of 
regard ma}' be vehement while they are plotting our 
ruin, but never for one moment can we doubt whether 
a mother's heart be ours. The attachment of others 
may be unsteady, but " can a woman forget her suck- 
ing child, that she should not have compassion on the 
son of her womb ?" The affection of others may be 
warm, but nought can equal the love of a mother's 
heart. She sacrifices ease, and health, and sleep, and 
the pleasures of society, for her childrens' sake ; and to 
this she needs no persuasion but the cry of her babe. 
Instead of being influenced in her kindness by any 
mercenary consideration, the happiness of her offspring 
is the only reward which she seeks. 

Now the heart must bleed at the death of such a 
friend; nor is his language to be charged with extravagance 
and folly, who is thus heard bemoaning himself by the 
side of a mother's grave ; " Delightful to me was her 
language of kindness, and her caresses of affection; 
but the heart that loved me is now cold in the dust 



124 THE YOUNG COMFORTED ON SERM. Pit. 

the eyes which so eagerly followed my steps, are now 
closed in daikness; and the arms which supported and 
embraced me, are now stiff and motionless. That 
spirit which even in sleep dwelt upon me with re- 
collections and purposes of kindness, hath quitted, 
the body that was the instalment of its affections, and 
ah ! it is now unconscious clay. The hand no more 
returns that pressure which spoke to the heart, and to 
every expression of filial love, the lips are silent, and 
the cheek is cold." 

The loss of a mother's care, and of its ministra- 
tions, excites this regret. Many are the cares of a virtuous 
mother, with regard to the education and support, the 
profession and connections, the health and the happiness 
of her children ; and by these she is prompted to the most 
active exertions for their welfare, both for the present 
and the future. " Her candle goeth not out by night, 
she maketh fine linen and selleth it, she looketh well 
to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread 
of idleness/' 1 Where these exertions are made, amid 
all the difficulties and anxieties that arise from the 
scanty earnings of a husband, they shew the strength 
of virtuous principle, and are entitled to peculiar 
praise. The toil and the solicitude, the foresight and 
the prudent management displayed by many mothers 
in the humble dwellings of the laborious poor, are more 
interesting to every admirer of true worth, than all the 
splendour that blazes in courts and palaces. 

Figure to yourselves the mother's labours to fit her 
children for entering respectably into a dwelling of 
their own, her efforts to provide for their comfort in 
the tedious preparations they must sometimes make 
before they can engage in active duty, and the plans 
she forms, and the time she occupies in providing ar- 

J rov. xxxi. 18. ST. 



SERM. VII. THE DEATH OF A MOTHER. 125 

tides for future necessity. She has no anxieties about 
obtaining the dainties of luxury, or the apparel of 
vanity for herself. If she is able to feed and clothe 
her family, and to establish them in the world in a 
suitable manner, she will be satisfied with the most 
moderate share of the comforts of life. Nor are these 
the cares only of a season. Solicitude for the welfare 
of her children follows her through life, and often 
rushes upon her mind even amid the reflections and 
prospects of her last hour. 

But when her breath goes forth, " she returns to her 
earth, and in that day her thoughts perish," neither 
hath she any more a part in an}' thing that is done un- 
der the sun. The dwelling once hers may go to con- 
fusion, but she can no more arise to set it in order. 
Her children may sink under difficulties, or pine away 
in neglect, but she is not with them to inspire them 
with courage, or to guide them with meekness of wis- 
dom. A parent has left you, who never thought she 
could do too much for your happiness ; who watched 
by your side like a guardian angel, and to whom your 
welfare was dearer than her own. She has gone the 
way whence she shall not return, and this was the 
language of her pallid countenance, and her sunk eye. 
" My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even 
the thoughts of my heart. Cease ye from those whose 
breath is in their nostrils, for wherein are they to be 
accounted of." 

3d, The loss of a mothers sympathy and its sooth- 
ing expressions excites this sorrow. A mother is 
prompted to sympathy by the tenderness with which 
nature inspires a parent, and the sanction which re- 
ligion gives to the benevolent emotions of the heart in 
general, she considers as enforcing upon her every 
kind attention to her children in distress. There 



!£6 THE YOUNG COMFORTED ON SEISM. VII. 

are many circumstances which afford ample scope for 
the manifestation of a mother's compassionate feel- 
ings. Cast your eyes over some of the sad occur- 
rences by which her family may be afflicted, and you 
will perceive how they are felt in her heart, and light- 
ened by her influence. 

How assiduous are her ministrations in sickness! 
No hand can dress the sore so tenderly, or smooth the 
pillow so softly as hers. The hopes of relief which 
she suggests, the tear that says I cannot give up my 
child, the promises of divine aid, and the examples of 
patience in suffering which she exhibits, and the 
prayers by which she thus intreats the Lord in our be- 
half, " Have mercy on him, and not on him only, 
but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sor- 
row," support and sanctify the heart. 

If her children become embarrassed in their circum- 
stances, the face of love changes not into the hasty 
look of cold civility, or the insulting scowl of marked 
contempt. Though all should forsake them, she will 
not. She would share with a child in misfortune not 
only the abundance which she feels is more than suf- 
ficient for her support, but even her last morsel, 
" the handful of meal in the barrel, and the little oil 
in the cruse." She is willing to impart to them even 
her own soul, because they are dear to her. 

Calumny may slander them, but though it should 
obtain very general credit, it finds not in her one 
prone to take up the ill report, or that defends them 
in a manner cold and careless. She considers her own 
respectability as involved in theirs. Their triumph, 
over slander is hers also, and what pierces their repu- 
tation enters her heart. So prompt is a mother's 
sympathy, that she requires no call te rejoice with 



SERM. VII. THE DEATH OF A MOTHER. iff'' 

her children when they rejoice, or to weep with them 
when they weep. 

Such is the friend whose loss that weeping orphan 
thus mourns, ec She is gone, who in all my ills was my 
watchful nurse, and my kindest comforter. That 
countenance which rose or fell as it was well or ill 
with me, is now covered continually with the same 
ghastly paleness. The bowels that yearned in pity at 
my sorrows are now insensible to every thing, and 
that heart is dead even to me. No more can she en- 
courage me when dispirited by calumny, or wipe away 
the tear of distress. Her vigilant tenderness suffered 
not a mutter nor a sigh to escape it when I was in 
affliction ; but the dead know not any thing, nor can 
their ears open to our cry." 

Mh, The heart mourns for the loss of the counsels of 
a mother's wisdom. In every man's life circumstan- 
ces occur in which the advice of others is requisite ; but 
the young stand in peculiar need of counsel. They 
are so imperfectly acquainted with the world, that they 
are apt to be deceived by every fair appearance, and 
by every flattering suggestion; and so little do they 
know of the deceitfulness of the heart, that they ar@ 
eager to follow the impulse of every passion that pro- 
mises them enjoyment in complying with its die* 
tates. 

Of all counsellors, a mother is certainly the most af- 
fectionate and disinterested ; and she has that complete 
knowledge of the dispositions and circumstances of 
her children, which eminently qualifies her for giving- 
advice. To none can you speak with such confidence 
as to her, nor will any one listen with such patient 
attention to your statements. Others may disclose* 
your difficulties and your scruples to your prejudice | 



128 



THE YOUNG COMFORTED ON 



SERM. VII. 



but in the breast of a mother they are lodged as safely 
as in your own. 

Others may be influenced by sinister motives in the 
counsels which they give, but those of a mother flow 
from the purest and the strongest wishes for your wel- 
fare. And her counsels are given with the utmost 
mildness. The advices of others are sometimes given 
in that haughty manner which seeks to establish a 
claim to superior intelligence and sanctity, or with 
such harsh reflections on our weakness and folly, as 
are more likely to exasperate than to humble or re- 
claim ; but a mother's counsels are characterized by 
gentleness and benignity, and though they may have 
been despised in dme past, she is still willing to renew 
them. The loss of such a monitor must be a griev- 
ous calamity. 

Some of you are probably now calling to remem- 
brance those mild expostulations by which a mother 
checked the excesses of your passions, and shewed you 
the folly of those desperate measures to which you 
were prompted by revenge ; the advices which kept 
you from forming friendships that would have been a 
snare to you, and the warnings which taught you to 
detect the treachery that was concealed by smiles, and 
the plans of ruin which were recommended by the most 
plausible assurances of gain or enjoyment. And how 
sad is the thought, that the spirit endowed with so 
much wisdom and prudence, hath left you to walk in 
your own counsels, and that painful anxieties and mia« 
takes are before you. 

5th, The affectionate heart mourns for the loss of the 
lessons of a mother's piety. A mother is certainly the 
most engaging teacher of devotion. There is a sweet- 
ness in her manner which makes the hardest sayings 
appear easy ; and her continual presence in the family 



SERM. VII. 



THE DEATH OF A MOTHER. 



gives her opportunities of instructing which lie not open 
to a father. The objects of religion often excite in 
them the liveliest emotions, and are exhibited to chil- 
dren in words that burn. A mother speaking to them 
with earnestness and deep interest, about the charac- 
ter, grace, and salvation of Christ, is not likely to ad- 
dress them in vain. Solomon, in his Proverbs, gives 
the prophecy which his mother taught him, and the 
commencement of it is most solemn and pathetic; 
" What my son, what the son of my womb, and what 
the son of my vows." 2 And the Apostle Paul inti- 
mates, that the mother of Timothy had been instru- 
mental in promoting that faith in the Gospel for which 
he was distinguished. 3 There is so much feeling in a 
mother's prayers with her children, that in these acts ol 
worship they are often strongly moved ; her lessons 
are enforced by the power of devotion, and their heart 
and their flesh cry out for the living God. 

Some of you must acknowledge the greatest obliga- 
tions to a mother's piety ; and these are felt in all 
their force when she departs to the Father. I have 
awakened in some of your hearts the reflections which 
you made in the hour in which they were taken from 
you. " No more shall a mother kneel with me at the 
throne of grace, or teach me to pray, or sweetly com- 
mend the Saviour to my heart. No more shall I hear 
the melody which added a charm to the songs of 
Zion, nor shall she ever again call me to the house of 
God, or plead with the Saviour for me while at the 
communion table. The place where she sat at Christ's 
feet, the Bible her daily companion, over which so 
many tears of affection have fallen, and whose trea- 
sures of grace and truth she so often pointed out t© 



2 Prov. xxxi. % 



z 2 Tim. I 5. 



ISO 



THE YOUNG COMFORTER ON SERM. VII. 



me; the couch on which she reclined, from which she 
raised so many devout ejaculations to heaven, and ut- 
tered to me the parting admonitions of a soul prepared 
for glory, shew me what I have lost. O let me never 
forget that they shew me what I ought to be." 

Of the piety of others we are in many cases incom- 
petent judges. We only behold some occasional dis- 
plays of its influence ; but the piety of a devout mo- 
ther is manifested in such a variety of ways, in circum- 
stances in which no principle could constrain but the 
love of Christ, and with such uniformity, that we 
never question her walk with God. It is by religious 
principle that all those efforts of care and affection 
which bless a household are animated, and that the 
milder virtues are supported in their exercise, in situa- 
tions calculated to produce irritation or despondence, j 

Such are some of the causes of this heaviness at a 
mother's death. Let it not be thought that we have 
drawn too flattering a picture. Such mothers have 
been among you, to whom not merely the partiality of 
their children, or the voice of public opinion, disposed 
to speak charitably of all when they die, have ascribed 
these excellencies, but who were honoured for such 
qualities long before their departure by all that knew 
them. How opposite to such a character is that of 
those who, from indolence, or mismanagement, make 
their families miserable ; and what a contrast does her 
piety and holy zeal present to the spirit and conduct 
of the female infidel, scoffing at that Gospel which has 
raised her sex from the degradation in which it was 
left by heathenism, and whose graces are the loveliest 
ornaments of the manners, and its sanctions the best 
guardians of innocence ! The heart turns away with 
horror from folly so monstrous, and fixes with more 



SERM. VII. 



THE DEATH OF A MOTHER, 



131 



delight than ever on the domestic virtue which religion 
animates and adorns. 

I proceed now, in the second place, to point out 
where consolation is to be sought and obtained under 
such a calamity. 

i. There is consolation in the thought that itcomes to 
you by the appointment of God. It was an impression 
of this kind that made David say in the hour of sor- 
row, " I was dumb, and I opened not my mouth, be- 
cause thou didst it ;■' 4 and the Apostle tells the Thes- 
salonian believers, " that no man should be moved 
by these afflictions, because they knew that to them 
they were appointed." 5 Jehovah's right to make this 
appointment is unquestionable, and it is a right which 
in our acts of worship we have often admitted. No- 
thing can be more foolish than for creatures so mean 
and shortsighted as we are, to arraign the procedure 
of Him who is Lord of lords, wise in heart and mighty 
in strength ; and, dependent as we are on him for every 
comfort, it is most ungrateful to complain when he 
takes away one blessing as if he had left us none. 
Though he gave no account of any of his matters, en- 
tire and prompt acquiescence would be our duty. 

Besides, He by whom the appointment was made, 
is not a malignant Being to whom the happiness of his 
creatures is intolerable, and who takes pleasure in the 
despair of the broken heart. It is the determination 
of the Father of mercies, who saw your union with 
complacency, and who will renew it in an intercourse 
more perfect and more delightful. The time which he 
has chosen for your separation, is not selected by ca- 
price, but fixed by infinite wisdom ; and you will see 



* Psal. xxxix. 9, 



5 1 Thes. iii. 3. 



132 



THE YOUNG COMFORTED ON 



SERMi VH. 



at some after period, that it was the fittest for the happi- 
ness of both. The mandate that called so beloved a 
relation a??ay, may seem to you stern and peremptory, 
but to them it was the voice of love, and to you also, 
if you have imbibed their spirit. Instead of murmur- 
ing at their removal, you ought to bless God for spa- 
ring them with you so long ; and instead of charging 
Him foolishly, you ought to say with Job, " The 
Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken awaj r , and bless- 
ed be the name of the Lord/' 6 

It is in the scene where friends are torn from us in 
spite of *all our efforts to detain them, that we best 
learn that lesson, " Be still, and know that I am 
God/' By learning this lesson in the house of mourn- 
ing, you will be qualified for bearing w r ith firmness 
and composure the unavoidable disappointments which 
are yet before you, and which, where submission to 
God has not been formed, have produced the most 
disgraceful and ruinous excesses of anger and folly. 

2. There is consolation in the thought that all the 
benefits which you derived from so dear a relative, are 
to be found in God. In him every blessing which 
the creature can yield us is to be found in richer abun- 
dance, and in a nobler form. He is the Father of 
lights, from whom cotneth down every good and every 
perfect gift. We have heard your melting testimony 
to a mother's love, bur how great is Jehovah's good- 
ness ; nor can the affection of a mother, and its 
pledges, be compared to the love that passeth know- 
ledge, and to the blessings which it bestows. In the 
midst of your lamentations, lift up your voice in the 
praise of that mercy that endureth for ever, and that 
loving kindness which is better than life, It vras the 



5 Job ii. 21. 



SERM. VII. THE DEATH OF A MOTHER, 13$ 

song of your mother's death-bed, and shall it be for* 
gotten in your sorrow ? 

God also careth for you, and on. him you may cast 
all your cares ; his care is ever watchful, no languor 
can ever enfeeble it, no scantiness of means can limit 
its exertions, nor can any untoward circumstances dis- 
appoint or embarrass them. " Sing ye unto her a 
vineyard of red wine, I the Lord do keep it ; I will 
water it every moment, and lest any hurt it, I will 
keep it night and day." 7 He can never want suitable 
instruments to promote your interests ; and when one 
sinks, others are ready to act at his call. Even now, 
while, by the violence of sorrow, you are exhausting 
your strength, and in the wildness of impassioned 
grief are crying, " O that thou wouldest hide me in 
the grave he is preparing lenitives to assuage your 
affliction, and calling on friends to manage for you 
the concerns to which you cannot bend your own at* 
tention as before. 

Think of his melting heart, who is touched with the 
feeling of our infirmities ; of his guidance, whose 
counsels can make darkness light before you ; and of 
his grace, whose Spirit can form every excellence 
within you, aid you in all the offices of devotion, and 
animate you to all the duties of a virtuous life. , Listen 
to the language in which he sweetly describel the in- 
fluence which he exercises ; " I taught Ephraim to go, 
taking them by their arms; I drew them with cords of 
love." 8 Think of him as present with you in your 
family devotions, as marking your sorrows with a fa- 
ther's pity, as blessing your basket and store, as draw- 
ing his curtain around you while you sleep, and giving 
his angels charge over you to keep you in all your 



7 Isa. xxvii. 2, 3. « Hos. xf. 3, 4. 

M 



154U THE YOUNG COMFORTED ON" SERM. VIT. 

ways. It was he that formed those qualities, and 
prompted those services of your parents which you so 
highly prize, and he can bless you in others as you 
have been blessed in them. 

3. Consolation will be obtained by you in the fulfil- 
ment of their wishes and purposes. An affectionate 
heart considers it as a sacred duty to fulfil the wishes 
and purposes of an absent or a departed friend ; and 
the more dear and respected such a friend was, the 
more pleasure is felt in paying him this tribute. Con- 
sider then what were the wishes and the purposes of 
your mothers ; and if your heart is right, the fulfilment 
of them will be honourable to your character, and gra- 
tifying to your best feelings. 

They had probably formed purposes and wishes 
with regard to the temporal comfort of your younger 
brothers and sisters, and the fulfilment of these may 
require from you much labour, and some painful sa- 
crifices, but these will be more than compensated by- 
the delightful idea of a mother's applauding }^our filial 
duty. No wise or good man would consider that ease 
or indulgence as at all desirable, which was to be ob- 
tained by the disregard of any of the obligations of na- 
ture, or by the neglect and the spoliation of those 
whose interests were committed to his charge. 

If they had formed wishes and purposes with regard 
to the spiritual improvement of their children, I exhort 
you to labour zealously, that the image of Christ may 
be formed within them. The seasons which they oc- 
cupied, and the means which they employed for this 
end, should be improved by you in a similar way. It 
will be most gratifying to be able thus to appeal to 
them, " Ye know how we exhorted, and comforted, 
and charged every one of you as a father doth his 



4 



SERM. VIZ THE DEATH OF A MOTHER. 13£ 

children, that ye would walk worthy of God who hath 
called you to his kingdom and glory." 9 

Did the idea, what will become of my children when 
I am gone, sometimes sadden their heart ? Study ye to 
shew that in their welfare you take a deep interest, and 
for a mother's sake, and for theirs, act such a part as 
will call from them this grateful acknowledgment 
" Blessed be ye of the Lord, for ye have not left off 
your kindness to the living and to the dead." 10 If there 
are favours which they wished to perform but could 
not, you will feel the sweetest pleasure in bestowing 
these gifts, and they will be valued as a pledge of affec- 
tion from the grave. If they have left any obligations 
to be discharged, in fulfilling these you will be grati- 
fied by the thought that you are doing justice to their 
honest intentions, and accomplishing what they would 
have done had they been spared, that malice will have 
no pretext to impeach their integrity, nor the voice of 
reproach be heard at their tomb, 

If they had formed plans for the relief of the poor, 
and for promoting the kingdom of Christ, it is good 
that this was in their heart, and you will feel the high- 
est consolation in realizing these, in entering into their 
labours, and in bringing on their memory the blessings 
of those ready to perish. And when you meet in hea- 
ven, no blush shall express your shame, and no frown 
their displeasure, and your delight in their approbation 
will far exceed the most blissful emotions their favour 
ever gave you in the present scene. 

4. Consolation will be found in the imitation of their 
virtues. The culture of religious and moral excellence 
is in all cases a source of the highest delight. There 
is a joy in believing which brightens many a dark 



9 1 Thess. ii. 11, 12. 



w Ruth ii. 20. 



136 THE YOUNG COMFORTED ON SERM. VIL 



hour,, a satisfaction even in efforts of self-denial, and 
a pleasure in doing good, which blesses the heart long 
after the act of beneficence is over. To cultivate vir- 
tues which adorned characters we revere, is in all 
cases delightful, even though they were unconnected 
with us ; but there is a peculiar pleasure felt in growth 
in those graces which adorned the friends whom we 
respected and loved. The estimation in which a pious 
mother held the fruits of the Spirit, her care to 
cherish them, the attraction which they spread around 
her, the peace which they yielded her, the respect 
which they have secured to her memory, and their 
blissful result in the heavenly state, are motives to cul- 
tivate them of the strongest kind. To the heart bleed- 
ing with sorrow, these excellencies appeal with peculiar 
earnestness ; and I beseech you to suffer no worldly 
cares, and no counsels of those who pretend that they 
are desirous to divert }'our minds from painful con- 
templations, to withdraw yotf from their influence. 

Such meditations will awaken the best purposes. 
Can I bear the thought, will the young say, that a mo- 
ther should now abhor me as a hypocrite? If I have 
been so in time past, my repentance shall yield her 
joy among the angels of God. I will labour to excel 
in that power of godliness of which I have known 
only the form, and to cultivate those excellencies, my 
want of which was perhaps the only sorrow of her 
last hour, or which she was led to attribute to me by 
the partiality of a mother, and the charity that hopeth 
all things. If that spirit "of faith, hope, and charity, 
dwells in me that actuated her, let me go on to the 
perfection to which' she has now attained, and from 
which she .beckons to me to follow her. It is the most 
honourable eulogy that can be pronounced on children, 
when they are described as possessing the honest indig- 



SERM. VII. 



THE DEATH OF A MOTHER. 



137 



nation at what is base and vicious, the purity of manners, 
the gentleness and courtesy, the activity and sagacity, 
the benevolence and sympathy, and the piety and zeal 
by which a departed parent was distinguished. Your 
heart will whisper to you, that a mother's eye is fixed 
on your efforts to resemble her ; that to her your de- 
vout purposes and your virtuous struggles are known ; 
that she follows you through every scene of duty and 
temptation, and anticipates, with rapture, the approach 
of the period, when, instead of blushing to acknowledge 
that you ever were her's, she will present you to the 
Father, saying, " Behold, here am I, and the chil- 
dren whom thou hast given me." A disgrace to a 
mother's memory is a dreadful reproach to which vice 
subjects the profligate descendants of the good, and it 
can be disregaded by none but those who are past feel- 
ing. 

Finally, There is comfort in the belief that a de- 
parted mother is happy, and in the hope of a reunion. 
You see, by the most melancholy indications, that the 
spirit of your mother hath left its abode. But where 
is it gone ? Had you lived in the dark places of the 
earth, fancy would have replied to your anxious enqui- 
ries, by repeating her wildest fables ; but the Gospel 
tells you, that the spirits of the good are with Christ 
in paradise, and that while you mourn they rejoice 
with joy unspeakable. The cares and fears that once 
preyed on them, are now ended ; the Saviour, on 
whom they told you they had placed their supreme 
affection, now shares with them his honours and his 
bliss, and they rejoice is the idea that the only ob- 
jects uiey regretted to leave on earth will soon join 
them. They told you their hope of meeting you in 
heaven, and charged you not to disappoint them, and 
when you fail they will receive you into everlasting 



3 38 



THE YOUNG COMFORTED ON 



SERM. VII. 



habitations. That body over which you hang, which 
with such reluctance you suffer to be enclosed in the 
coffin and consigned to the grave, whose dark abode 
is dear to your hearts, and with whose loved remains 
you wish your ashes to mingle, shall in due time live. 
That heart shall one day throb, these eyes shall one 
clay sparkle 1 with love and rapturous astonishment, 
these arms shall be clasped about you, and these lips 
shall say, " God be gracious to thee, my son!" 

Such are the hopes which have gladdened many a 
heart. They are not the flights of a wild enthusiasm, 
or the reveries of a mind unsettled by sorrow. They 
are suggested by the promises, and confirmed by the 
resurrection of Jesus. Follow not that weeping or- 
phan to a mother's grave, ye impious and merciless 
disputers, who would wrest from him the only comfort 
that can calm his soul. He has no ear and no heart 
for your cruel mockings of the Christian hope, or for 
your dark and horrid speculations. He is listening to 
the voice of Him who is the resurrection and the liv- 
ing One, and he thus addresses him, " Thy mother 
shall rise again ; our friend sleepeth ; I delight to min- 
gle my claims of affection with yours; she sleeps under 
my care, parted from you, but still united to me, and 
from that bed in the dust I shall in due time call 
her forth to everlasting life." Blessed be God for 
such everlasting consolation, and such good hope 
through grace. (e Beloved, I would not have you ig* 
norant concerning those that are asleep, that ye sor- 
row not even as others who have no hope. For if 
we believe that Jesus died tni rose again, them that 
sleep in Jesus will God bring , with him. \Yherefcre 
comfort one another with these words." u 



** 1 Thess. iv. 13, H, 18. 



SERM. VII. THE DEATH OF A MOTHER. 13§ 

It must be obvious to you, that these truths are 
calculated to sooth the minds of pious mothers in the 
prospect of being separated from their children. Che- 
rish them in your memories for the dying hour before 
you, and at that season may they rise to your view in 
the power of the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. 
We hope they will be found useful ftfr stimulating 
mothers to the duties of that relation. And if there 
are mothers in this audience regardless of their duty 
to their families and to their God, Pet them hear, and 
tremble, and reform. How terrible is the thought 
that the idea of your utter destruction may aggravate 
the sorrows of your children in the hour of your de- 
parture, and press heavily on their hearts through 
life! You must be Christians indeed if yoif would 
wish to be happy, or to leave your children in com- 
fort. " Martha, Martha, thou> art careful and trou- 
bled about many things, but one thing is needful, and 
Mary hath chosen the good part which shall not be 
taken from her." 12 

If there are young persons who in this season o£ 
mourning contemn the lessons and the comforts of 
religion, let them know that they forsake their own 
mercy. Time may alleviate, but grace will not sanc- 
tify their sorrows. This is the most solemn season in 
your life, and the most likely one for your conversion^ 
and if it passes away without any saving change being 
wrought on you, there is reason to fear that as no fu- 
ture calamity may so deeply interest you, you will die 
in your sins. Then shall you weep under a sorrow in 
which it will not be in your power to refuse consola- 
tion; sorrow to which no relief is ever offered, and no 
termination shall ever come. I beseech you to turn 



w Luke x. 41, 4& 



140 THE YOUNG COMFORTED, &C. SERM. YII. 

your eyes to the Saviour, and this moment to devote 
yourselves to Him ; and that period in which the 
kindest of your relations has been taken from your 
dwelling, shall be found by you to be a day of salva- 
tion. " Make haste and come down, for to-day I 
must abide at thy house." And will you exclude 
him ? 

Let the young, who are piously disposed, and whose 
hearts are humbled in the scene of sorrow, grow in 
grace. Let the lessons you have learned in the house 
of mourning, the habits of self-denial and serious re- 
flection which you have formed, the spirit of sobriety 
and mercy, of humility and devotion which there has 
rested on you, accompany you through life. Let the 
resolutions of this scene be always kept in remem* 
brance, and let the sources of consolation to which you 
have now been led, be applied to in every future ca«« 
lamity. " Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, 
and God even our Father who hath loved you, com- 
fort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word 
and work." 13 Amen. 



js 2 Thess. ii. 16, 17. 



SERM. Villi THE MEEKNESS OF CHRIST, &C. 141 



SERMON VIII. 

THE MEEKNESS AND GENTLENESS OF CHRIST 
RECOMMENDED TO THE IMITATION OF THE 
YOUNG. 



% Corinthian's x. L 
" I beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Cbnst.? 

"When this pathetic address is considered in conneo- 
tion with the circumstances that led to it, the charac- 
ter of Paul appears in a very interesting light. He 
had conferred the most important favours on the 
church of Corinth, yet many of its members disre- 
garded these, and exalted the talents and the services 
of others to his prejudice. Offended at the strict 
controul which he maintained, and led away by the 
spirit of party, they spoke of his ministrations with 
contempt, and violently opposed his doctrines and in- 
junctions. In writing to a church where such a spirit 
was raging, the apostle expresses himself in a manner 
prudent and mild, yet firm and dignified. He vindi- 
cates his mission, labours, and plans, in a manner so 
satisfactory, that the petulant must have been si- 
lenced, and his opponents must have been covered 
with confusion. In the words of the text, he conjures 
the Corinthians by the meekness and gentleness of 



142 THE MEEKNESS OF CHRIST SERM. VIII. 

Christ, to judge with candour and charity, and to save 
him from the disagreeable necessity of using severe 
measures to repress the insolence, and the falsehood 
of his enemies. Such an appeal would not be made to 
them in vain, nor would they despise a counsel so 
reasonable, and enforced by a reference so dear and 
sacred to every pious heart. 

The meekness of Christ is a phrase expressive of 
the calmness and patience, the forbearance and humi- 
lity by which he was distinguished ; and his gentle- 
ness represents the sweetness, courtesy, and kindness 
of his spirit and manners. It is my wish to recom- 
mend the imitation of Him in these graces of his cha- 
racter to the young. The spirits of the young are 
often bold, fitry, and ungovernable, and their own 
peace, and the happiness of their connections, renders 
it necessary that they be subjected to the discipline of 
religion, and formed by every practicable method to the 
temper which it requires. In this discourse I shall, 
in the Jirst place, shew, in what way meekness and 
gentleness should operate in the temper, the manners, 
and the deportment of the young ; and, secondly, that 
the meekness and gentleness of Christ present the 
most persuasive motives to induce them to cultivate a 
similar spirit. 

I. In what way meekness and gentleness should 
operate in the young, is the first topic that claims our 
attention. 

I. Meekness and gentleness appear in modest and 
unassuming manners. There are some who are mis- 
erable unless they attract public notice, and obtain a 
larger share of attention in the societies in which they 
mingle than others. This disposition appears very 
early, for the peace of schools is frequently broken by 



SERM. VIII. RECOMMENDED TO THE YOUNG. 14* 

the turbulence and the vain-glory of the petulant and 
the conceited ; and habits have been formed in such 
situations which have in after life filled society with 
strife and confusion. Their tempers are fretted be- 
cause they meet not with tha honour which they had 
anticipated, and mortified pride inflames the malignity 
of the heart, and leads them to seek by detraction, to 
ruin the fame of successful rivals. 

The harmony of the festive scene has been often 
disturbed by disputes about precedence ; nay this spi- 
rit hath sometimes influenced the conduct of men in 
the house of God, amid the solemn calls which are 
heard there to humility and benevolence. 

Meekness and: gentleness are directly opposed to the 
love of display, and this desire to have the pre-emi- 
nence. They delight in the shade of retirement, and 
shrink from the glare of public observation. They in- 
cline those whom they influence to " esteem others 
better than themselves," to discover their good quali- 
ties gradually and simply to those with whom they 
associate, and to abhor the parade and the boasts of 
ostentation. A meek and gentle spirit rejoices when 
justice is done to the merits of others though we 
should be overlooked, checks every temptation to 
jealousy and rivalship, and amidst unmerited neglect 
it vents not itself in bitter complaints against the pre- 
judice, the caprice, and the folly of the age, but seeks 
happiness and glory in studying to shew itself ap- 
proved unto God. What a lovely spirit is this meek 
and gentle spirit! It is like the flower blossoming in 
the valley, which delights the senses of the contempla- 
tive wanderer, who in the gaudier plants of the scene 
of culture can find nothing to charm him like the 
wild and simple beauties of nature. 

This spirit was discovered in the most amiable 



144 THE MEEKNESS OF CHRIST SERM. VIII. 

manner by our Lord. Though possessed of qualities 
and powers which would have made him the wonder 
of Israel, yet for thirty years of his life he remained in 
obscurity, and engaged in the humblest offices for his 
own support. He declined the sovereignty of Pales- 
tine, though urged to assume it by a populace eager to 
assert his claims. He ordered his most astonishing 
miracles to be concealed, and the brightest displays 
of his glory were made, not in the presence of the 
multitude, or of all the disciples, but of Peter, James, 
and John. He was among his disciples as he that 
serveth ; and ' ' though in the form of God, and equal 
with God, he made himself of no reputation, and 
humbled himself to the death of the cross/' 1 

2. Meekness and gentleness appear in calmness and 
forbearance under provocations and injuries. This 
calmness and forbearance are quite different from that 
tameness and meanness of spirit which shrinks from 
all defence of its own rights, and permits injustice and 
audacity to trample upon it with impunity. They in* 
duce a man to put the best construction on the con- 
duct of others which it will bear, make him ready to 
explain whatever has given offence in his language or 
depprtment, incline him to pass by injuries in silence, 
when this is "permitted by the duties he owes to his 
station and family ,• keep him from the cruel retalia- 
tions of revenge ; soften his heart to a humbled adver- 
sary, and render him eager to improve the first open- 
ing for reconciliation. 

Think not, my young friends> that yon will never be 
placed in situations where you will have many provo- 
cations and injuries to bear. You know not the dis- 
positions of your future connections. Neighbours, 



1 Phi!, ii. 6, 8. 



SEKM. VIII. RECOMMENDED TO THE YOUNft. 145 

proud, envious, and quarrelsome ; partners peevish, dis- 
satisfied and overbearing; children petulant, unruly, 
and stubborn ; employers or masters unreasonable in 
their demands of service, suspicious, and prone to find 
faults in whatever you do, and associates whose indo- 
lence, or incapacity, or want of principle, will render 
your duties oppressive and bitter, may perhaps be the 
trials of your future lot, and will shew you that all the 
meekness and gentleness you were required to cul- 
tivate in youth was less than was necessary. How 
melancholy is the spectacle often exhibited among pas- 
sionate and impetuous young men ! A thoughtless 
expression, uttered without the smallest intention to 
offend, is resented with warmth. A proud spirit, and 
a dread of the imputation of meanness and cowardice, 
keeps him who has given the offence from offering the 
demanded explanation, — a challenge ensues, — and one 
of them falls a victim to the bloody idol false honour, 
while the other is miserable from the reproaches of 
conscience. Alas ! that this practice should prevail so 
much in a country where Christianity has so long 
taught lessons so opposite. 

The power of meekness and gentleness is sometimes 
affectingly manifested under domestic evils. Some, for 
whom nature and religion claim the kindest indul- 
gence, are treated with harshness and cruelty. Their 
exertions for their family are slighted or denied, and 
they are charged with waste, or sloth, or wickedness, 
which they abhor, yet instead of rendering railing for 
railing, or heightening fury by reproaches and sarcasms, 
the softest expostulations are employed ; they intreat 
their fierce accusers to be just and candid, and assure 
them that no unkindness can make them regardless of 
their happiness, and that they will live in the hope 
that God will mollify their hearts. In such a scene the 

N 



146 THE MEEKNESS OF CHRIST SERM. VIII. 

sufferer feels that her witness is in heaven, and follows 
not the impulse of desperation or revenge, but the dic- 
tates of patience and forgiveness; and by such con- 
duct the most violent passions have been calmed., and 
the savage heart melted. It is the early and continu- 
ed culture of meekness and gentleness, and the aids of 
divine grace, that can alone enable any thus tried to 
act in this manner. But in every other scene of life 
offences will come, and though prudential considera- 
tions may restrain, in many cases, the expression of 
anger and disgust ; yet the best controul under which 
you can place the feelings is that of the principles in 
our text. 

This spirit o/ calmness and forbearance under inju- 
ries was displayed by our Lord in a very remarkable 
manner. Reproach and indignity never excited re- 
venge in his heart. " When he was reviled, he re- 
viled not again ; when he suffered he threatened not." 2 

Betray est thou the Son of Man with a kiss," was his 
language to" the traitor who delivered him to his ene- 
mies. " If I have done evil, bear witness of the evil, 
but if well, why smitest thou me," was his address to 
the officer that smote him. " Father forgive them, 
for they know not what they do/' was his prayer for 
those who had nailed him to the cross. As the shouts 
of the populace could not elate him, so neither could 
the contradiction of sinners, nor the cries of the mul- 
titude for his blood, bring a single malediction from 
his lips, or induce him to think of their approaching 
ruin without the tenderest pity. 

2. Meekness and gentleness appear in courtesy and 
kindness in the intercourse of life. The person influ- 
enced by them is not merely anxious to avoid giving 

2 1 Pet. ii. 23, 



SERM. VIII. RECOMMENDED TO THE YOUNG. 2 47 



offence, but eager to diffuse happiness through every 
circle in which he moves. They give to the manners 
that affability, that attention to the claims and the 
wishes of others, and that deference to their feelings, 
which have a wonderful influence in blessing social in- 
tercourse. They render the young respectful and sub- 
missive to their parents, dispose them to acquiesce 
cheerfully in their arrangements for their happiness ; 
and when these are of such a nature as to call on them 
to express their dislike, they will be led to testify this 
in a manner so soft and conciliating, that they will 
either alter their views, or modify them so as to accord 
with their wishes. 

In mingling with others, meekness and gentleness 
will lead you to such care to please, and give such a 
winning charm to every mark of your kindness, as will 
secure you. a place in every heart whose regard is to be 
valued. They will incline you to such an agreeable 
manner of expressing your opinions, as will obtain for 
them a favourable reception. At your side, the ten- 
der heart, wounded by the harshness of the selfish hu- 
mourist, will seek refuge, and the comforts of sympa^; 
thy will be exhibited by you in a manner so patient 
and mild, that the mourner's heart will yield to their 
influence. 

To your inferiors they will discover themselves in 
such acts of condescension and indulgence, as will make 
them feel your superiority as a blessing ; and when you 
must reprove, your disapprobation will indicate such 
love to the offender's souL and such a benevolent 
anxiety to reclaim him, as will give great influence t6 
your admonitions. 

The mischievous tricks which seem so gratifying a 
sport to some young persons, the spirit of meekness 



148 THE MEEKNESS OP CHRIST SERM. VIII. 

and gentleness will lead you to abhor as serious out- 
rages on the comfort or the respectability of others. 

There are some who imagine that they shew supe- 
rior sanctity, by the coarseness and asperity of their 
language, and by the rudeness with which they treat 
those who may not be so estranged from the world as 
they are ; but had they the spirit of Christ, they would 
be " gentle to all men, and would in meekness instruct 
those that oppose themselves." It was thus that our 
Lord aoted. Little children loved to be where Jesus 
w r as ; the poor and the distressed were charmed by his 
benignity ere his bounty relieved them ; his disciples 
were so attached to him by the sweetness of his man- 
ners, that they felt his departure as an insupportable 
calamity, and the insidious questions of his enemies 
were answered in a way which made them feel how dif- 
ferent his spirit was from theirs. 

4. Meekness and gentleness, prompt to lenity and 
indulgence to others, and to abstinence from all mea- 
sures of rigour and severity. To insist on the ful- 
filment of all our claims to the utmost extent which the 
strict letter of the law warrants, may be deemed by 
many an act of justice which no reasonable man can 
blame. There are cases in which this is absolutely 
necessary, where indulgence would only embolden vii- 
lany, and allow it to continue its depredations on the 
simple or the helpless. But there are other cases in 
which mercy requires us to pause, and to make a sa- 
crifice of our claims rather than to proceed to extremi- 
ties. This should certainly be done where our means 
of support will not be destroyed by the loss, when un- 
avoidable misfortunes, and not extravagance and kna- 
very, have led to the debtor's ruin, when harsh mea- 
sures will incapacitate him from every future effort to 
better his situation, and when the innocent and the. 



SERM. VIII. RECOMMENDED TO THE YOUNG. 



helpless will be crushed with him. The lenity that is 
shewn to such a man may operate as a powerful mo- 
tive to industry, and to such a mode of living as will 
enable him to requite his benefactors' indulgence ; and 
the consciousness of this deed of generosity will diffuse 
a pleasure through the heart greater than the recovery 
of any sum could produce. 

Your parents may perhaps have lost, by the failure of 
others, part of the sums which they had destined for 
you, and for your sakes they may deem severe mea* 
sures necessary ; but the spirit of gentleness will make 
you plead for indulgence to the unfortunate, and render 
you satisfied with that which you can enjoy without the 
reproaches of your own hearts. 

But we must also beware of rigour and severity in 
judging of the opinions of others. We ought on no 
account to palliate error, or to speak lightly of its 
criminality ; but in judging of those who adopt it, we 
must examine the circumstances which have led them 
astray, their opportunities of information, and its in* 
fluence on them and on others, and by these consi* 
derations regulate our censure. Abusive language will 
only confirm them in what is wrong, and strengthen 
-all their prejudices against the truth. 

The spirit of meekness and gentleness will preserve 
us from rigour and seventy in judging of the actions 
of others. We must abhor all that is evil, but in 
passing sentence on the guilty, we should take into 
view every extenuating circumstance, and labour to 
restore them in the spirit of meekness. Such a me- 
thod is infinitely superior in propriety and success to 
the penances and the anathemas of fanatical austerity. 
" Fie shall have judgment without mercy who hath 
shewed no mercy, and mercy rejoiceth over judg- 
1 



150 THE MEEKNESS OF CHRIST SEKM, "VI LI* 

ment." 5 Remember Christ's mode of dealing with 
the prejudices of the Jews, his apology for his drowsy 
disciples, his language to the penitent weeping at his 
feet, whom the sanctimonious Pharisee was cursing in 
his heart, and you will perceive that in this lenity you 
are following the steps of your Lord. 

Lastly, Meekness and gentleness appear in patient 
acquiescence under the afflictions of life. To the 
young afflictions are often sent of a nature most pain- 
ful to their feelings. Disappointed in their fondest 
wishes, and bereft of their dearest friends, some o£ 
them have destroyed their health by excessive grief, 
and uttered the most impious reflections on Provi- 
dence. But the spirit of meekness and gentleness 
will lead you calmly to consider the salutary ends for 
which your troubles are sent, and will dispose you to 
suffer in silence. They will exhibit in your conduct 
the warm feelings of youth controuled by resignation^ 
and the affections rising from the dust where their 
dearest objects lie, to the throne and to the mercy of 
the everlasting God* 

This spirit will prepare you for bearing to the glory 
of God the afflictions of the after periods of life. 
Many must struggle through life with narrow circum- 
stances. In spite of all their efforts they find it im- 
possible to raise their earnings to the increasing ex- 
pense of living. In this situation the spirit of meek- 
ness will keep you from degrading yourselves by una- 
vailing complaints, or mean solicitations, and will: 
lead you to sel&denial, and to submit to any priva- 
tion, that you may live in independence and integrity., 
The hardships of poverty are nothing to a virtuous 
spind,. in comparison of the anxieties of debtt Th^ 



J Jamegii. 13; 



VIII. RECOMMENDED TO THE YOUNG. 



151 



situation of that family is dreadful, in which, instead 
of prudent retrenchment to meet difficulties, money is 
borrowed to put off for a season the evil day, which 
comes at last C£ like an armed man," and drives them 
gut to hunger and nakedness. 

Some of you may have appointed to you wearisome 
days and nights, in which you must watch by sick re- 
lations ; and unless this spirit is formed within you, it 
will seem unjust to doom you to spend your strength 
in confinement and toil, while others live in ease. But 
meekness will bend your hearts in silence before Him 
who chastens you in wisdom and mercy ; and gentle- 
ness will give to your attentions a soothing and re- 
storing influence. 

You may be tried by the misconduct of relations, 
but this spirit will preserve you from the public expo- 
sure of their follies, and from irritating them by ill 
timed censure, and induce you to labour to reclaim 
them by prayer, judicious counsel, and exemplary 
virtue. Should Providence call you to close the eyes 
of the children, or the partners of your heart, the 
meek and gentle spirit will raise to heaven, when the 
last office of love is done, the words of the Saviour, 
and the sigh that accompanies them, will not render 
them leas acceptable, " O my Father, not my will, 
but thine be done T 

Should you live to old age y sad reflection on joys 
that are past, increasing infirmities, the neglect of 
those on whose care you had relied, and the near ap- 
proach of eternity, will agitate the heart ; but if this 
has been your spirit from your youth, it will be like 
the evening sun gilding the naked mountain, after all 
below, it is forsaken. It has a smile for the face,, 
sweeter than all the bloom of youth, and a calm for 
the heart more pleasing than all its gay pursuits. It 



152 



THE MEEKNESS CF CHRIST 



SERM. VIII. 



will raise every eye to you with affection, and open 
every mouth to you in kindness. 

You know how eminent the Man of sorrows was in 
this resignation. He bore from his Father's hand the 
severest anguish without a single murmur, he was led 
as a lamb to the slaughter ; nor did one feeling of im- 
patience rise in his heart during all the lingering tor- 
tures of the cross, nor a single threat check their 
cruelty who w T ere insulting his sufferings. In imita- 
tion of your Lord, I call on you to possess your souls 
in patience. 

I proceed now, in the second place, to shew that the 
meekness and gentleness of Christ present the most 
persuasive motives to the cultivation of these excel- 
lencies. 

1. Meekness and gentleness appear in the character 
of our Lord in the most winning form. If your hearts 
are at all open to the influence of good example, they 
must be gained now. You may plead in excuse for 
your disregard of other examples of meekness and 
gentleness, the imperfect manner in which these graces 
are manifested, or the disgusting parts of a man's con- 
duct which checked your regard for his better qua- 
lities ; but no such apologies can be presented here. 
In the meekness and gentleness of Christ you see no- 
thing that bears the semblance of fawning complai- 
sance or abject submission. In him these graces are 
not seen associated with imbecility and indiscretion, 
but with the wisdom of God, and the power of God. 
It is the still small voice that quells the tempest. It 
is the eye that discerns the thoughts and intents of the 
heart, whose glance is so encouraging to the timid and 
the feeble. It is the heart that never was conscious of 
one sinful movement which pities the transgressor, and 



SERM. VIII. RECOMMENDED TO THE YOUNG. 



153 



bled for the lost. Grace was poured into his lips, and 
benignity and love were the glory of the only begotten 
of the Father. 

We do not admire meekness and gentleness so much 
in those whose difficulties are few, and whose powers 
are limited ; but when the meek pass by the injury 
which they could have washed out in blood, when mild- 
ness softens the steps of majesty, and benignity graces 
the courtesies of wealth, we deem them worthy of the 
highest praise. And shall we not admire the meek- 
ness of that Saviour, whose love was repaid by the 
cruelties of persecution, and his gentleness, " the 
thunder of whose power none can understand/* 

Search the records of all ages, and examine the 
conduct of the wisest and the best of men, and you 
will not find one comparable in these graces to the 
Lamb of God. As the Holy Ghost was given to 
Jesus without measure, these graces must have been 
possessed by him in a more glorious form than ever 
they appeared on earth before. Gentleness was one 
of the virtues of a state of innocence, but in a scene 
where injury and sorrow were unknown, meekness in 
many of its forms could have no place. It was re- 
served for the Son of man to display this temper in all 
its beauty, and to exhibit a pattern of the most capti- 
vating gentleness, not amid acts of homage, and the 
blessings of prosperity, but the fury of persecution, 
and the 'Contempt of the proud. 

Many in contemplating the character of our Lord, 
have felt their hearts constrained to acknowledge, that 
in him they behold a meekness and a gentleness wor- 
.thy to be held up as a pattern to all generations, and 
to be honoured by the praises of time and eternity. 
The young are ready to admire an ardent bustling and 
impetuous character, and to connect with it the idea. 



154< THE MEEKNESS OF CHRIST SERM. VIII. 

of greatness and energ}' of mind; but by studying 
that of our Lord, they will see that their taste is false, 
and their admiration grossly misapplied, and that it is in 
the rule of our own spirits, that wisdom, vigour, and 
dignity, are best displayed. 

2. It is the meekness and gentleness of one whom 
you are under the strongest obligations to imitate. It 
every good example that is presented to us in history, or 
in our intercourse with the world, calls on us to follow it, 
you cannot refuse to imitate him to whose service your 
parents have devoted }^ou, and whom you have called 
your Master and Lord. He died and rose again, that 
he might be the Lord of the dead and living. 

Consider with what tenderness he has acted to you 
in infancy and youth. You think with wonder when 
you see the behaviour of children, how your parents 
could bear with your ill humour and your follies, but 
their patience and kindness were formed by his influ- 
ence, and animated by his example. Ye went astray 
from the womb speaking lies, yet he drew you to 
truth and goodness by the cords of love. 

Reflect on what he endured for you. You love to 
imitate the friends who have done much for you, but 
for you Jesus was made a curse. If from Moses in 
the wilderness, and Job in the dust, you learn what 
meekness and patience you ought to exercise, shall 
you be regardless of the lessons that are taught you 
from the cross ? That heart so tender, is the heart 
that was broken for you. That face so benignant, is 
the visage that was marred for you. That manner so 
condescending is his, who for you was laid in the dust 
of death. Were it the meekness and the gentleness of 
an enemy it would be your duty to copy it, and shall 
you not follow it when it is that of your anointed Sa- 
viour? O never let there be reason to address this 



SERM. VIII. RECOMMENDED TO THE YOUNG. 155 

cutting reproach to you, " Why call ye me Lord, 
Lord, and do not the things which I say }" 4 Has my 
voice spoken to the deaf, and my light shone on the 
blind ? Have I been so long time with you, and have 
you not known me ? Have I done so much to allure 
you, and will no soul follow me in love ? 

3. Consider how much his honour and that of his 
religion are concerned in the regard which you pay 
to the meekness and gentleness of Christ. You are 
now at a period of life, in which motives of a generous 
cast more powerfully influence the mind, than those 
in which self-interest is involved. You wish the world 
to think well of the spirit of your Master, but you 
must know that they will judge of it from you. The 
world will not believe that such was the character of 
Christ, if his followers are surly and ferocious. If 
they look to the assembly of the disciples, and behold 
them filled with envy, pride, and malignity, they will 
not believe that the Master whom they profess to re« 
vere was rich in grace and truth, and that the religion 
which they extol is full of mercy and good fruits, pure 
and peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated. They 
will be disposed to insinuate that he was a crafty im- 
postor, " the words of whose mouth were softer than 
oil, while war was in his heart and that the founders 
of other religions, who went forth with their creed in 
one hand, and their sword in the other, reeking with 
blood, were more honest than he. But when the 
multitude of them that believe are mild, pure, and 
generous, the world will be constrained to admit that 
they have learned to act thus from Jesus, and that 
grace and truth came by him ; that he appeared not 
like the bloody impostor of the East, with the shield, 



4 Luke vi. 46. 



156 



THE MEEKNESS OF CHRIST 



SERM. VII!. 



the sword, and the spear, but just and having salva- 
tion, lowly in his condition, yet shining in all the 
moral splendour of ample and unwearied beneficence. 

4. Consider how Christ is related to you. To be- 
seech a child, by the virtues of his parents, will pro- 
bably guard him against the opposite vices, and lead 
him to act as they did. I beseech you by the courage 
of your father, would be the most animating address 
that could be made to the youthful warrior. I beseech 
you by the meekness of your father, and by the gen- 
tleness of the mother that bore you, is an intreaty 
that hath calmed the anger of impetuous youth, and 
which calls up recollections that melt the heart. Now 
Jesus is related to you by the tenderest and closest 
ties. You know how often he addresses you in Scrip- 
ture as the children of his love ; and that his promises, 
and even his warnings, breathe a kindness far ex- 
ceeding that of a parent's heart, and can you refuse to 
cherish his spirit ? 

The dutiful child, intreated by the meekness and 
gentleness of parents now no more, would imagine 
them, if he yielded to the impulse of anger and re- 
venge, frowning on his rage, and unwilling to own 
such a vindictive being as theirs ; and Christ will not 
acknowledge us as his, if the spirit of him " who was 
a murderer from the beginning" works within us. 

5. Consider the glory of his person and character. 
It is not the meekness and gentleness of one whose 
station is low, or whose influence is insignificant ; nor 
are these solitary graces in his character. Had this 
been the case, men would have been apt to say, who 
is he that we should copy him, or what profit shall we 
have if we walk mournfully after him ? But it is the 
meekness and gentleness of Him who hath all power 
committed to him in heaven and on earth, whom all 



SERM. VIII. RECOMMENDED TO THE YOUNG. 157 

the angels of God worship, and who to the softest 
pity added unshaken fortitude, and a fidelity that 
never wavered in the cause of truth and righteousness. 
It is the meekness and gentleness of Him who is 
U more glorious than all the mountains of prey 
ee more high than the kings of the earth, and more 
excellent in name than angels of him who might 
have shone in all the majesty of heaven, and tri- 
umphed in all the fury of vindictive justice, but who 
chose to appear among us rich in mercy, and eager to 
perform every kind office for our happiness. Let us 
take heed, lest, amid the pleasing contemplation of 
Christ's benignity and long-suffering, we forget the 
dignity of his character ; and let us rejoice, that 
while he shines pre-eminent in the mildest graces of 
humanity, he is " the brightness of the Father's glory, 
and the express image of his person." 5 

Finally, It is the meekness and the gentleness of 
one who has connected the most important conse- 
quences with our imitation or neglect of his example. 
" If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is 
none of his." 6 He will not dwell with the ferocious 
and revengeful, but with " the man of an humble and 
contrite spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and 
the heart of the contrite ones." No man of a soft and 
benignant temper could live with those who were ma- 
lignant and cruel ; and " what concord hath Christ 
with Belial ?" Such persons have no reason to expect 
any of the blessings of his presence, any assurances of 
his friendship, or any promises of his mercy. It dis- 
covers the grossest ignorance of his character, and a 
most foolish confidence in themselves, when these are 
expected by such persons. Nor will Jesus take such 



* Heb. i. 3. 



6 Rom. viii. 9. 

o 



158 THE MEEKNESS OF CHRIST SERM. VIII. 

to dwell with him in heaven. The Scriptures have 
shewn us the characters of the heirs of salvation ; all 
that is soft and pleasing in the creation, they employ 
as emblems of the mildness and beauty of genuine ex« 
cellence ; and the spirit by which Jesus prepares them 
for glory, is stated to be the charity " that suffereth 
long and is kind, which envieth not, and vaunteth not 
itself, which is not puffed up, doth not behave itself 
unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily pro- 
voked, beareth all things, believeth all things, hope^h 
all things, and endureth all things." 7 But for the 
children of the devil, whose hearts delight in wicked- 
ness, " whose throat is an open sepulchre, whose 
mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, and whose feet 
are swift to shed blood the vengeance of eternal 
fire is prepared, where by mutual curses and reproaches 
they shall aggravate the misery of each other, and 
where the principles which so often made them un- 
happy in this world, shall torment them without cea- 
sing for ever. 

These considerations, my young friends, I now 
leave with your hearts and consciences, and may God 
grant that on you they may have a complete and per- 
manent influence to his glory and to your own happi- 
ness. 

I conclude by recommending the imitation of this 
meekness and gentleness to other classes of per- 
sons. 

Ye who are old, I beseech you by the meekness and 
the gentleness of Christ, not to aggravate the sorrows 
of your evil days, by peevishness and discontent. 



7 1 Cor. xiii. 4—7. 



SERM. mm RECOMMENDED TO THE YOUNG. 



159 



When almost every leaf is gone from the rose of life, 
let not its thorns remain. Think it not enough that 
you are sound in faith, ye must be sound also in eha* 
rity and patience. 

Ye parents, I beseech you by the meekness and 
gentleness of Christ, to beware of (t provoking your 
children to wrath and to endeavour to persuade, 
before you. attempt to compel. Abuse will stupify 
them, and severity will alienate them from you, but 
judicious counsel, and affectionate intreaty, will win 
their hearts to what is true, and just, and good. 

Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter 
against them. Reproaches from the lips that should 
bless her, sink into the wife's heart ; and a blow from 
the arm on which she hoped to lean, is to her as the 
stroke of death. And let these virtues of Christ be 
cultivated as the most desirable excellencies of the fe- 
male character. While the fury and the quarrels of 
the brawling woman are abhorred, let teazing fretful* 
ness and sullen discontent be carefully avoided. 

Masters, do your duty to your servants, forbearing 
threatening, knowing that your Master is in heaven, 
and that there is no respect of persons with him. It 
is but a partial and reluctant obedience which threats 
and abuse will procure you, but servants will do any 
thing for a master whom they love. Let servants 
beware of a surly and dissatisfied temper, and let 
them seek the peace of the families where they dwell. 
It is the mild, obliging, and affectionate servant, whom 
little children love in their early years, and of whom 
they never think but with regard in after life. 

Ye who are at variance, I beseech you by these vir- 
tues of Christ, to leave off contention. " Blessed are 
the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children 



160 THE MEEKNESS OF CHRIST SERM. VIII. 

of God." 8 Ye who are at peace, maintain calmness 
and forbearance when provocations arise. The loss 
of a friend, if he deserved the name, is much to be 
deplored ; and painful will be our reflections, if his re- 
gard is lost by our folly and violence. " A soft an- 
swer turns away wrath, but grievous words stir up 
anger." 9 

Ye members of churches, follow after the things 
that make for peace, and things whereby one may 
edify another. Listen not to those who wish to make 
you think unfavourably of your brethren, or to support 
them in their attempts to disturb the peace of the so- 
cieties to which you belong, by their novelties, or 
their scrupulosity. And let pastors of churches, act as 
he did, " who gathered the lambs with his arms, and 
carried them in his bosom, and who did not strive, 
nor cry, nor make his voice to be heard in the streets/' 
Let religious sects and parties speak the truth in love, 
and where you conscientiously differ in sentiments and 
rites, widen not the breach by reproaches, suspicions, 
and anathemas, but be " kindly affectioned one to- 
wards another." 

Let political parties cease to distract the nation by 
their broils and their scurrilities ; and let them in the 
spirit of the Gospel direct their efforts to promote 
peace on earth, and good will among men. Let those 
who in their efforts to render men discontented with 
their place in society, and with the government under 
which they live, are scattering fire brands around 
them, learn to practise and recommend gratitude, pa- 
tience, and humility. O that rival nations, whose 
contests " have filled the world with widows and or- 
phans," would " beat their swords into plough shares, 



» Matth. v. 9. 



9 Prov. xv. |- 



SERM. VIII. RECOMMENDED TO THE YOUNG. l6l 

and their spears into pruning hooks promote the 
benefit of each other by the communication of their 
respective advantages, and fulfil the benevolent ap- 
pointment of heaven, that man should be the friend of 
man. 

Ye poor and afflicted, meekness and gentleness will 
procure you respect even in your low estate, and 
bring comfort into your own hearts ; and ye rich and 
prosperous, mind not high things, but condescend to 
them of low degree. If meekness and gentleness 
dwell not in your houses, they will be prisons to your 
visitors, and solitudes to yourselves. Let the dying 
wait, and quietly hope for the salvation of the Lord. 
Death cannot be a king of terrors to those to whom 
he comes as a messenger from a meek and gentle Sa- 
viour. 

Ye unconverted men, receive not the grace of God 
in vain. The excellencies of Christ's character, which 
have been set before you, assure you that all that come 
to him will be received in mercy. Meekness will not 
be inexorable to the penitent sinner, nor will gentle- 
ness drive him away. " Now then we are ambassa- 
dors for Christ, and as though God did beseech you 
by us, we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled 
to God." 10 

lf > 2 Cor. v. 20. 



lG2 THE GUILT AND PUNISHMENT OF SERM. IX. 



SERMON IX. 



6N THE GUILT AND PUNISHMENT OF THE CHIL- 
DREN THAT MOCKED ELISHA. 



2 Kings ii. 23, 24. 
" And he went up from thence unto Bethel, and as he was going up 
by the Yv'ay, there came forth little children out of the city, and 
mocked him, and said to him, Go up thou bald head, go up 
thou bald head ; and he turned back and looked on them, and 
cursed them in the name of the Lord, and there came forth two 
she bears out of the wood, and tore forty and two children of 
them." 

The miracles of Scripture are characterized by mercy. 
They were not wrought to gratify the vanity, the ca- 
price, or the revengeful passions of men, but to re- 
move misery, to dissipate prejudice, and to gain at- 
tention to the messages of heaven. Human power 
often shines in empty display, but the hand of Jeho- 
vah is never stretched forth but for purposes worthy 
of himself, and in a manner which shews that he de- 
lights not in the terrors and the misery, but in the 
love and the happiness of his offspring. When he 
arises to execute judgment, it is when the presump- 
tuous abuse of his goodness can be tolerated no longer, 
and when forbearance would leave his messengers, and 
their message, to the contempt and the fury of a wicked 
and perverse generation. 



SERM. IX, THE CHILDREN THAT MOCKED EL1SHA. l&B 

This chapter presents to us a variety of miracles. 
It must be ignorance of the grossest kind, or prejudice 
contemning ail the claims of truth and candour, that 
induces some to class these striking incidents with the 
fables by which nations embellish the early stages of 
their history, and which sober and enlightened histo- 
rians would have considered as fit only for the wonder 
of children, or the notice of the weak and the credu- 
lous. They occupy a place in the records of a people 
whose scrupulous care in preserving the purity of their 
sacred books has been admitted by their bitterest ene- 
mies, and whose earliest writings display a wisdom, 
and a morality, far superior to any to be found among 
heathens in the most advanced stages of scientific or 
political refinement. They exhibit to us lessons which 
no wise man will scorn, and they accord with the most 
enlightened ideas which we could have formed of the 
procedure of the Almighty. 

The venerable Elijah, before whom a profligate 
court had often stood in awe, and who had long taught 
the lessons of penitence to a guilty people, is transla- 
ted by the chariots of God into heaven. His succes- 
sor goes forth, clad in his mantle, and animated by his 
spirit. He smites the waters of Jordan, and they are 
divided. He casts salt into the fountains by which 
Jericho was supplied with water, and removes their 
noxious qualities. Soon after this act of beneficence, 
the event took place which is recorded in the text, an 
event which suggests many important lessons, and, in 
illustrating it, we trust we shall be able to vindicate 
the character of the prophet, and to teach children how 
they ought to fear God* 

In this discourse I shall, First, point out the crimes 
of which these young persons were guilty. Secondly, X 



164 



THE GUILT AND PUNISHMENT OF SERM. IX. 



shall make some remarks on their punishment, and 
conclude with some practical counsels and reflections. 

1. Let us attend to their crimes. In order to our 
forming a proper idea of these, it may be necessary to 
consider the account given of the offenders. They are 
called little children. Men eager to seize every thing 
that may attach discredit to the Scriptures, have repre- 
sented them as too young to be conscious of any thing 
improper in their conduct, and have considered it as 
the effusion of childish gaiety and forwardness, which 
a wise man would have regarded with indulgence or 
with contempt. But it is certain that the word trans- 
lated" little children" is often employed to signify young 
persons, and it is evident, from the whole of the story, 
that they were above the period of mere childhood. 
They were capable of assembling in crowds to accom- 
plish a certain object, of coming out of the city to meet 
the prophet, and of giving him opprobrious language. 
That place must have been very depraved where a 
multitude of children could act in this manner. Had 
a few only been guilty of it. we might have consider- 
ed them as children of Belial, who were the terror and 
the abhorrence of the place, and with whom the rest of 
the young would not associate, but for a deed of wick- 
edness which could gratify no appetite, they assemble 
in crowds. 

And what must their parents have been ? These 
children must have been certain of the connivance, nay 
of the approbation of their parents, or they would not 
have thus openly insulted the prophet. It did not 
take place in a country where the true God was un- 
known, and where actions were attributed to idols so 
ludicrous, that to every mind not utterly besotted by 
superstition, they must have been objects of derision, 
but it was in a land where Jehovah's steps of majesty 
4 



&ERM. IX. THE CHILDREN THAT MOCKED ELISIIA. 16 J 

had been seen, and where his prophets had produced at- 
testations to their commission which multitudes had felt 
as the seal of heaven. 

Crowds of children seldom separate without the eom- 
mission of some deed of mischief or folly. One daring 
boy proposes the enterprise, and the rest rush thought- 
lessly into it. Some have regretted to their last day 
the consequences of mingling in such crowds. The 
simple and timid boy, who has not spirit to oppose the 
schemes of the audacious, is dragged along to deeds, 
from the punishment of which others escape by craft 
and lies, or by making him the sacrifice for their owa 
impunity. 

But what were the crimes of which these children 
were guilty ? 

1. They were guilty of insolence and rudeness. To 
run after a stranger, to give him insulting names from 
any peculiarity in his appearance or equipage, and to 
triumph in the embarrassment and pain that result to 
him from this audacity, is an odious practice of which 
no virtuous boy will be guilty. Elisha was journeying^ 
in silence, and there could be nothing in his looks or 
conduct to provoke them ; yet is this inoffensive and 
venerable stranger made a jest and a proverb, in a 
country where hospitality to strangers was commanded 
as a sacred duty, and enforced by the most affecting 
appeals to the sufferings of their fathers while in a 
foreign land. 

The East has long been celebrated as the region 
where every tent is open to the stranger, and where 
children are taught to share their morsel with him ; 
yet there this solitary unprotected wanderer is rudely 
attacked, and an outrage is committed which the most 
savage tribes would have abhorred. 

2. They were guilty of cruelty. They saw on Elisha 



1 66 THE GUILT AND PUNISHMENT OF SERM. IX. 



the usual tokens of infirmity and age, and they up- 
braided him with these as if they had been a fit subject 
for ridicule. Persons who labour under disease or 
frailty are peculiar objects of pity, and the youthful 
heart must be dreadfully corrupted where grey hairs 
and decrepitude are insulted by mischievous humour. 
It was of this Job complained, " now they that are 
younger than I hold me in derision, whose fathers I 
would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my 
flock. I am their song and their by- word. They ab- 
hor me, they spare not to spit in my face. Upon 
my right hand rise the youth, they push away my 
feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their 
destruction." 1 Too many are to be found disposed to 
insult over the unfortunate, and the virulence of whose 
malignity can be restrained by no recollection of their 
former beneficence. We might think this only possi- 
ble in those whom a long continuance in sin, or the 
fall of a formidable rival, had rendered callous to all 
feeling ; yet at the season when the heart most easily 
melts in pity, the good have been insulted when they 
were brought low. 

Some of these children had probably relatives ad- 
vanced in life, and they must have been accustomed to 
regard their infirmities with little pity, since they could 
so readily insult those of a stranger. The heart that 
delights in the offices of domestic love, cannot find 
pleasure in rendering any one that it meets with un- 
happy. A heart that sighs at a parent's decline, will 
never find a subject of mockery in the decay of ano- 
ther. 

3. These children were guilty of impiety. They 
knew that Elisha was a prophet, and the successor of a 



1 Job xxx. I, 9, 12. 



SERM. IX. THE CHILDREN THAT MOCKED ELISHA. 167 

man whose fame was great in Israel. They must 
have heard of the judgments with which God had pu- 
nished those who wished to injure Elijah, yet they are 
not afraid to insult one that followed him in his spirit 
and power. 

They had heard about the translation of Elijah from 
the sons of the prophets in their town before it hap« 
pened, and must have been informed that it had ac- 
tually taken place ; yet they scoff at it as an idle tale, 
and call on Elisha to ascend to heaven as his master 
had done. The honour which God had conferred on 
such eminent zeal and sanctity is here denied in pro- 
fane merriment, and these youthful infidels are not 
afraid to set their mouth against the heavens. At this 
early season of life, credulity is common. We generally 
find the young much more disposed to give credit to 
tales of wonder, however extravagant, than to suspect 
their truth, to state the circumstances of improbability 
in the narrative, or to traduce the veracity of him 
who relates them ; yet these persons scoff at an incident 
which they knew was believed by the best and the 
wisest in the land, and which was not more beyond the 
course of ordinary events, than many of the prodigies 
recorded in their history, and which were talked of in 
Israel from one generation to another. 

It will doubtless surprise you, when you are told, 
that men professing to act the part of grave critics on 
the Scriptures, have utterly denied that there was any 
thing supernatural in this translation, and assert that 
Elijah was elevated by a whirlwind into the region of 
the air, such tempests being common in the mountain- 
ous regions of warm climates. As to the chariot and 
horses ©f fire, they say that this is an Eastern mode 
of describing the electric fluid which was blended with 
the whirlwind, and that this was now emitted from the 



1138 THE GUILT AND PUNISHMENT OT SERM. IX. 



clouds, and then appeared as a column of fire running 
along the ground, and by this storm Elijah and Elisha 
were separated. But such a death as this would never 
have been represented as a greater mark of the divine 
complacency in Elijah, than death in its ordinary 
forms. Besiues, if his master was borne away from 
him in such n whirlwind, it is strange that Elisha was 
untouched in its course, and left to gaze distinctly 
and calmly on the translation ; and that fifty men 
should be unable to find his body in a search of three 
days. 

It is true that enthusiasm delights to ascribe uncom- 
mon events to miraculous intei position, and that the 
oriental style abounds in strong personifications of na- 
tural objects, but the writer of this book has never in- 
dulged in any figurative representations that can in- 
duce us to believe that he wrote under the influence of 
imagination. It is characterized in every part by the 
plain language and sober spirit of history. 

Let us now consider, in the second place, the punish- 
ment of these offenders. 

Elisha looked on them. He probably gave them a 
stern look in order to intimidate them ; finding this of 
no avail to check them, he perhaps expostulated with 
them, and warned them of their danger. His forbear- 
ance only increased their audacity, and dreading that 
they would proceed to some act of violence, which he 
knew they were meditating, or heard them proposing, 
he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Elisha's 
heart was at this moment full of the parting scene be- 
tween him and his master, and their profane scoffs 
must have shocked him exceedingly. Could a virtu- 
ous child, coming up from a father's grave, hear un- 
moved his memory insulted, the hope of glory which 



SERM. IX. THE CHILDREN THAT MOCKED ELISHA. l6Q 

supported him in his last hour ridiculed, and the pro- 
mises, which were the grounds of that hope derided as 
a fable ? Could he bear to be told by the audacious 
scoffer, " Go and conquer death tis thy father did ; 
Go with angels to the bosom of Abraham as he did ; 
Go and assume his sanctimonious air ; Go and impose 
on the credulous with his solemn cant, and with a pom- 
pous detail of his death-bed raptures I?" Would not 
filial piety say in such a case, " The Lord rebuke 
thee?" 

Providence ratified the curse of Elisha, and sent two 
animals noted in the East for strength and ferocity to 
destroy them. They were directed of heaven to those 
who had been most active and daring in the outrage. 
The rest are allowed to escape, and the prophet re- 
mains unhurt. This was an awful warning to the in- 
habitants of Bethel. The field where impiety raged is 
made the scene of its punishment, and the shrieks of 
parents rise where their children a little before shouted 
in cruel derision. 

This city was one of the two places where Jeroboam 
had placed his calves, in imitation of the cherubims, 
which are supposed to have been figures in this form 
at each end of the mercy seat, that the people might 
not, by resorting to the temple at Jerusalem, be shaken 
in their attachment to his government. It was the 
seat of a worship opposed to that which God had com- 
manded and sanctioned ; and probably the censures of 
Elijah, and his zeal against idolatry, had inflamed 
them against him as the enemy of what had been the 
great distinction of their city ; but this sanctity in which 
they trusted could afford them no protection from the 
divine vengeance. Providence intended this as a warn- 
ing to all ages, that he abhors and will punish the sins 
of the young, and to shew parents, that the children 



170 THE OUILT AND PUNISHMENT OP SERM. IX. 

whom they stir up to sin against the Lord, will either 
live to their shame, or die to their sorrow. 

Let us now conclude the discourse with some prac- 
tical counsels and reflections, which are suggested by 
this subject. 

I. Let the young guard against every temptation to 
these crimes. It is not enough that you feel indigna- 
tion at the wickedness of these children, and horror at 
their fate ; it is necessary that you avoid every temp- 
tation, and watch against every tendency to these 
evils, and that you cultivate those graces of temper, 
language and manners, which are directly opposed to 
them, and whose influence tends as much to happiness 
as theirs does to misery. 

Disgrace not yourselves by rude behaviour^ When 
a scene of festivity, or a public procession, collects a 
crowd, beware of injuring the modest and the inoffen- 
sive in their feelings and comfort, by the tricks of 
mischief and folly ; and disturb not the solemn silence 
which is so necessary at a funeral for religious medi- 
tation, and wounded feeling, by your noise, or your 
crowding among the mourners. The rudeness of the 
young on these occasions, has been encouraged by the 
example of the old ; and were they to exhibit a proper 
decorum and -solemnity, children would not be so 
ready to act with levity and forwardness. 

Beware of acting with cruelty to the aged and the 
afflicted. Never let it be an amusement to you to 
mar the repose of the old, to sport with their fears, to 
destroy the domestic animals that are almost the only 
companions of neglected poverty, or to place obstruc- 
tions in their path, that those whose eyes are dim 
with age may stumble and fall. It is only a base heart 
that can find pleasure in such deeds ; and it indicates 



5ERM. IX. THE CHILDREN THAT MOCKED ELISHA. 171 

a cowardly, as well as a merciless spirit, to trample on 
the helpless. No sight is more lovely than that of 
young person acting as a guide and a protector to the 
old, and regarding this not as a drudgery but as a plea- 
sure. 

It is most painful to see crowds of children running 
after persons disordered in mind, and making this most 
melancholy visitation of heaven a source of merriment. 
The haggard looks, the wild cries, and the disordered 
dress of the maniac ; the laughter, the dirtiness and 
rags of the idiot, ought to excite commiseration and 
humility. Had you a brother or a sister thus brought 
low, could you bear to see them abused ? O remem- 
ber that these poor creatures have friends, whose hearts 
are bleeding as yours would bleed, and that He who 
gives and takes away reason at his pleasure, will pu- 
nish with peculiar severity all who injure them. 

Beware, too, of the language and of the deeds of 
profanity. The imprecations of impiety, excite pecu- 
liar horror, when uttered by the young. Guard your 
lips against these, and against all names of reproach at 
religious sects and places of worship. I trust you will 
never learn the way of those " cursed children," who 
spend the Sabbath, in summer, in roaming through the 
woods, to destroy the nests of their harmless inhabi- 
tants, or through the fields to pilfer their produce ; or 
who amuse themselves on that day in swimming; 
and who in winter sport on the ice in noisy fear- 
less levity. How thoughtless and wicked must the pa- 
rents be, who permit their children to take such liber- 
ties with the Lord's day, and who have suffered their 
impiety to proceed to such excesses, which at their 
commencement they might have so easily checked ! 

2. Let not young persons think that these crimes may 
now be committed with impunity. Amidst all the 



I? 



THE GUILT AND PUNISHMENT OF SERM. IX. 



mildness of the Gospel dispensation, there are mani- 
festations of the wrath of God against such offenders. 
' wish not to speak in an uncharitable manner, and I 
am aware that disastrous incidents have sometimes 
been most improperly interpreted as judgments by the 
rash and the malignant ; but where the calamity falls 
on the offender in the act of sinning presumptuously, 
there is reason for the conclusion that God is taking 

o 

vengeance, and that he is calling on us to stand in 
awe. 

It may be said that these judgments are rare, that 
it is a very uncommon thing for the young to perish 
while amusing themselves on the Sabbath, or while 
engaged in wanton outrages on others ; but it is not 
rare to see prodigal children assaulted by disease, and 
hurried to the grave, and the remembrance of their 
conduct induces many to say, that it is good for so- 
ciety, and for their friends, that they are thus early re- 
moved. The sorrows of their friends are bitter, but 
what would they have been had these children run 
their full course of profanity and wickedness ? They 
may bless God that he has spared them such pangs. 

Consider also how miserable such offenders are in 
their own minds. It is an undoubted fact that the 
more pain a vicious heart gives to others, the more 
anguish it inflicts on itself. Conscience will curse them 
bitterly, and the appeals the sufferers make to heaven 
against their cruelty, will excite in them many anxious 
and painful forebodings. 

Reflect also on the ruinous excesses to which God 
gives up profligate children. The young who unite in 
bands to profane the Sabbath, and to injure the help- 
less, are likely to become parties in the gangs that as- 
semble for plunder and riot, and whom the hand of 
justice must separate. It is in these wicked sports 



SERM. IX. THE CHILDREN THAT MOCKED ELISHA. 173 

that a career has often commenced, which has termi- 
nated in the sorrows of a prison ; and of the pious 
whom they have mocked and abused, some transgres- 
sors have said, that they could not die in peace till 
they had obtained their forgiveness, and they have 
sought them for their comforters in their last days, and 
in their mournful end. 

Look forward to the period when God will meet 
such offenders who die in their sins " as a bear that 
is bereaved of her whelps, when he will rend the caul 
of their hearts, and tear them in pieces while there is 
none to deliver 2 The wrath of God may be slow in 
its progress to the sinner, and he may flatter himself 
that he is in no danger, but it will come at an unex- 
pected moment, and the longer it is delayed the more 
tremendous it will be. There are many transgressors 
in the place of misery, who regret that length of days 
which they so anxiously sought, and who feel that had 
their life of wickedness been terminated early, the 
wrath of God would have been Jess severe, and their 
own reflections less agonizing. 

As ypu would wish to avoid such misery, you must 
neither be terrified into an association with the rude 
and the profane by their threats and abuse, nor allured 
to it by their promises and wiles. No boy that blas- 
phemes God, or speaks reproachfully to men, is a safe 
companion for you. Let your temper and conduct be 
modest, sober, and benevolent. If any children be- 
side you are rude and ferocious, let this excite you to 
distinguish yourselves by mildness and humanity, and 
the more they curse God, the more do you extol him 
with affectionate praise. Look to the conduct of wick- 
ed children, not to cherish self-confidence, or to foster 



2 Hosea xiii. 8. Psal. 1, 22. 



3 74. THE GUILT AND PUNISHMENT OF SERM. IX. 

the idea that less earnestness in religion, and less 
kindness in demeanour, may suffice on your part, but 
to strengthen your gratitude to him " who hath made 
you to differ/' to increase your love to God and man, 
and your efforts to recover from the snare of the devil 
those who are led captive by him at his will. 

Contrast with the insulting and wicked language of 
these children, the conduct of the young who cried 
" Hosannah to the Son of David !" 3 We hear you 
repeat this exclamation of pious affection, but let your 
love to Christ, and your admiration of his character, 
be visible in your regular attendance on his ordinances, 
your imitation of his example, and your deiight in the 
society of those who bear his image. Then shall the 
blessing which was on the head of Joseph be upon 
you, God will give his angels charge over you to keep 
you in all your ways ; you shall be in league with the 
beasts of the field ; the ministers of religion will bless 
you in the name of the Lord, and the pious and the 
good will pour on you their parting benediction as 
they rise from the bed of death to glory. God him- 
self will command the blessing out of Zion on you, life 
that shall never end. 

3. This subject exhibits various duties to parents 
and to the instructors of the young. Let this counsel, 
sanctioned by the wisdom of God as the sum of prac- 
tical religion, u Fear God and keep his command- 
ments," 4 be the lesson to which you are most anxious 
to secure their attention. The fear of the Lord will 
make them serious and not gloomy, and cautious, but 
not weakly scrupulous. Children that mock at what 
is serious, will never respect yon. Permit them t© go 
to no place but where you know their virtue will be 



5 Mstth. xxi. 15. 



* Ecc). xii. 13. 



SERM. IX. THE CHILDREN THAT MOCKED ELISHA. 175 

safe. Let them see that you are determined that they 
must submit to your authority, and they will soon 
yield to it quietly. Study the characters of the compa- 
nions with whom the young under your care discover 
a wish to associate, and warn them against the rude, 
the fierce, and the profane, ere an intimacy is formed 
which it may not be in your power to dissolve. 

On the Sabbath-day bring them with you to reli* 
gious ordinances, and teach them to be attentive to 
public instruction. Beware of speaking lightly of any 
of the ministers of religion before them, for by lessen- 
ing their respect for them, you will estrange them from 
those in whose friendship and counsels they might find 
much advantage. Let them see in your attention to 
the aged and the unfortunate, that with you sympathy 
is not the whine of sensibility, but a principle of active 
kindness, not melting only for a moment, but patient 
and steady in labours of mercy. 

Let the characters you honour with your praise, 
be those whom it will be respectable, and safe for 
the young to admire and love ; and guard against 
every expression, and every look which may indicate a 
feeling of levity with regard to any religious topic or 
institution. Excite them by the peace of a good man's 
end to follow his virtues, and shew them that the 
tranquillity and hope which religion yields in the last 
hour is its peculiar glory, and that though some of its 
enemies have scoffed at this in the days of health and 
prosperity, they have confessed its truth, and done 
homage to its power amidst the horrors of remorse and 
despair. 

Let it not be deemed beneath the notice of parents 
and teachers, to inculcate a modest and respectful 
behaviour to all, but especially to superiors. These 
lessons are required by the precepts which enjoin us 

3 



176 THE GUILT AND PUNISHMENT OF SERM. IX. 

to give to all their due. The levelling spirit which 
views with disgust the distinctions of society, may lav« 
ish its applause on the ebullitions of youthful insolence, 
and hail them as indications, that in the next age, 
every humiliation will be scorned which rank and opu- 
lence now claim, and the restraints that now regulate 
the intercourse of life will be endured no longer ; but 
in these the passions are working that may be misery 
to millions, and that will assuredly break the hearts 
of their parents. 

Finally, This subject suggests to others in the au- 
dience besides those whom I have addressed, that they 
must not walk in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat 
of the scornful. At present profane swearing does 
not prevail among any class of men as it once did, but 
opinions unfriendly to religion are now avowed with 
more confidence than formerly. Modern infidelity has 
thrown off all delicacy and reserve, and Christians 
must meet it with boldness and decision. Admit not 
into the number of your intimate associates, persons 
noted for the impiety of their principles, or the pro- 
fanity of their language. Were such men shunned or 
repressed as they ought to be where they intrude, if 
they were not reclaimed, they would at least find it 
necessary to act with a more decorous regard to the 
feelings of others. 

Beware of violating the sanctity of the Sabbath by 
loitering about public places, or mingling in convivial 
parties, or making excursions into the country for 
pleasure. Such practices have the worst effects on the 
minds of the young, and will be opposed by them to 
every argument that urges them to keep the Sabbath. 
Providence has punished those that sought amusement 
on the Sabbath by fatal calamities, and by giving over 
those whom it suffers to persist in it to a reprobate mind. 

Let your manners be civil and obliging. Beware of 



SERM. IX. THE CHILDREN THAT MOCKED EMSHA. 177 

injuring strangers by unkind treatment, or unreasona- 
ble suspicions, and let the consideration that a fellow 
creature hath none to help him, be a stronger argu- 
ment with your hearts against doing him wrong, than 
if he had many to avenge him. Strengthen ye the 
weak hands, and shelter the hoary head of age. 

Give every discouragement in your power to the 
young whom you see acting improperly, and reprove 
and exhort them with all wisdom and patience. 
1'hough your admonitions may be lost on some, they 
may impress others. Decline not interfering to pro- 
tect the helpless, the aged, and the stranger from in- 
sults and violence. The frowns, the expostulations, 
and the threats of a man respected for the worth of his 
character, may convince them how improperly they 
are acting, and make them less rash and outrageous in 
future. Let the young who are modest and obliging 
be the objects of your notice ; and let every proper 
plan for the instruction and improvement of the igno- 
rant and the misled, obtain your support. They de- 
serve the countenance of every friend of our country, 
and of human nature. We have seen what desolations 
have been wrought in the earth by bands influenced by 
vain deceit, and the spirit of pride and cruelty that 
would neither fear God nor regard man. We cannot 
forget their impious mockeries, their horrid impreca- 
tions, their deeds of blood, and the only lasting secu- 
rity for peace and righteousness will be- found in the 
power of Christian principle over the minds of men, 
and in training up the young in the nurture and admo- 
nition of the Lord. In such measures the love of 
our country, and of our kind, will receive the noblest 
gratification. May God perfect in us the spirit of 
piety and benevolence, and extend and perpetuate its 
influence in the world ! Amen. 



178 ON THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS. SERM. X. 



SERMON X. 

ON THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 



8 Kings v. 2, 3. 

M And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought 
away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid, and she 
waited on Naaman's wife. And she said to her mistress, would 
God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria, for he 
would recover him of his leprosy." 

The malignity of the human heart has been mani- 
fested in the most horrible manner in the excesses 
committed in the course of war. In such scenes man 
discovers a ferocity, of which from the habits of ordi- 
nary life we could scarcely conceive him capable. Not 
satisfied with the pillage of cities, and the slaughter of 
battle, he has dragged into captivity the surviving 
soldiers of the armies that opposed him ; and multi- 
tudes besides these, from whom, on account of their 
age, their sex, and their habits, he had nothing to 
dread. His avarice, pride, and fury, demand some- 
thing more than the triumphs and the spoils of the 
day of battle, even the protracted misery of the cap- 
tive, and the oppressive toils of those whom success 
hath placed in his power. It is the influence of Chris- 
tianity which hath in some measure checked these 
atrocities which characterised ancient warfare, and 



SERM. X. ON THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 179 



which still disgrace the contests that are carried on in 
the dark places of the earth. 

The text gives an account of an expedition of this 
nature by the Syrians into the land of Israel, and 
a very interesting view of one captive whom they 
brought away. There must have been something pe- 
culiarly engaging in the appearance and manners of 
this young Israelite, since she was selected by Naa- 
man to be the attendant of his wife ; and in this situa- 
tion she displayed a truly excellent spirit, and reward- 
ed the humanity that lightened her bondage, by lead- 
ing her master to the cure of hi& leprosy. The history 
and conduct of this little maid, presents many instruc- 
tive lessons to all, but especially to those who in early 
life are called to engage in the service of others ; and 
for their benefit I shall now illustrate the counsels 
which it suggests. 

1. The conduct of this little maid calls you to a 
cheerful contentment with your lot. There were va- 
rious circumstances in her situation that must have 
deeply afflicted her heart. She had been dragged 
away from her parents at an age when nothing has 
occurred to wean the affections from them, and when 
their society and their care are felt by the young to be 
essential to their happiness. How painful was the 
contrast betwixt the kindness, the peace, and the 
abundance of a fathers house, and the taunts and 
threats of a rude soldiery, and the bread and water of 
affliction ! She had been taken from among the pecu- 
liar people of God, and the laws and rites which she 
had been taught to regard as the only fit modes of 
worship, and the only sure guides to salvation, and 
placed among idolaters with whom the institutions of 
Moses were objects of contempt. The liberty and 
gay sports of early life had been exchanged for a state 



180 QNTHE duties of servants. serm. X. 

©f dependance, servitude, and fear ; nor had she any 
prospect of recovering her freedom, and returning to 
the land of her fathers. In this situation it would not 
have been wonderful had she pined away in utter de- 
spondence, and died of a broken heart. But instead 
of fainting in the day of adversity, instead of sitting 
down and weeping when she thought on Palestine, in- 
stead of fretting against the Lord, and saying, " Why 
am I taken and others left,"- she resigned herself to 
her fate, and devoted her attention to the duties of the 
station which Providence had assigned her. 

It becomes the young who are servants to cherish a 
similar spirit. Your lot is happy in comparison of 
her's. You serve in families which you or your pa- 
rents have chosen, the laws of your country protect 
you from oppressive treatment, and should you find 
your situation disagreeable, it will be in your power to 
change it in a very short period. u You dwell among 
3'our own people," the means of subsistence are secured 
to you without any care on your part ; and such is the 
humanity of the age, that few servants have reason to 
complain of scanty support or excessive labour. The 
dependence in which you live is by no means de- 
grading. Yours is a situation occupied by many who 
are the excellent of the earth ; it furnishes you with 
opportunities for cultivating that self-denial and meek- 
ness which in God's sight are of great price, and from 
men you may obtain a high degree of respect by your 
good conduct. Beware then of impatience and fret- 
fulness, of quitting your service before the legal pe- 
riod on frivolous grounds of complaint, or remaining 
in it in that surly and querulous mood which will dis- 
gust and irritate a family against you. When you 
envy the condition of other young persons who seem 
more highly favoured than ycu are, or that of your 



SERM. X. ON THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS. ISl 

master and mistress, you repine against the Lord 
" who maketh poor, and who rnaketh rich, who bring- 
eth low, and who lifteth up." 2 What you sigh for as 
a lot easy and agreeable, has probably cares and toils, 
fears and sacrifices, attending it more bitter than the 
hardest servitude. You know not how difficult it is 
for them to maintain that cheerful look which you 
consider as the indication of felicity, and how many 
things in your situation which you disregard, appear 
to them more adapted to give happiness than all that 
they possess. There is no lot in life in which Provi- 
dence doth not place many sources of enjoyment with- 
in our reach, and the best comforts of man lie as open 
to the bond as to the free. 

2. The conduct of this captive calls you to a dili- 
gent discharge of the duties of your station. " She 
waited on Naaman's wife." She laboured sedulously 
to fulfil the office allotted to her, and the task assigned 
you it is your duty also conscientiously to discharge. 
The engagement which you have formed with the fa- 
milies where you live, is such, that you cannot neglect 
or refuse to perform what is required of you, without a 
gross violation of justice. It may require from you on 
some occasions considerable efforts to accomplish your 
task, but the satisfaction you will feel in the approba- 
tion of the family, and in that of your own consciences, 
if they are silent, will more than compensate you. 

Let nothing be done by you in a careless and slo- 
venly manner. The good nature of your masters may 
keep them from blaming you for this, but you wilt sink 
in their esteem by every instance of negligence, and 
never attain that distinction to which activity and 



2 1 Sam. ii. 6. 



182 ON THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS. S£RM. X. 



neatness uniformly exhibited would have raised you. 
A faithful servant will not think it sufficient for him 
to execute what has been pointed out to him as his 
duty, but every thing else that lies in his power he 
will do, if it seems necessary to the advantage and the 
comfort of the family. For this purpose it is requi- 
site for you to guard against slothful habits, and gad- 
ding about from place to place, and loitering away 
your time in conversing with your acquaintances when 
duty requires your presence at home. Remember 
that your time is not your own, but your masters ; 
and that to trifle it away gazing at every novelty, and 
talking to every person you meet when you are sent 
on messages, is not merely indiscreet but criminal. 

They act a sinful part who entice servants to fre- 
quent their houses, and for their own ends induce them 
to spend that time there which ought to be devoted to 
their duty. No reasonable master will refuse you permis- 
sion to meet with your acquaintances occasionally, but 
leave of absence should be asked, and never abused 
by your exceeding the time allotted. You ought not 
to imagine that nothing requires your presence at 
home, or that what is left undone can be easily ef- 
fected by the additional efforts of to-morrow; for cir- 
cumstances may have occurred in your absence which 
may cause it to be felt as a great inconvenience, and 
nothing is ever so well done as that which is performed 
at its proper season. 

3. The conduct of this servant calls you to be re- 
spectful to your masters in your language and man- 
ners. Observe the manner in which she speaks of 
Naaman to her mistress. There were indeed pecu- 
liarities in the manners of the East, and a humiliation 
required in the behaviour of servants there, which the 



5ERM. X. ON THE DUTIES OP SERVANTS. 183 

liberality of modern times has exploded. There every 
master might be a tyrant, and every servant felt him- 
self a slave ; and their intercourse was regulated by all 
that trembling solicitude, and all those expressions of 
reverence which the haughtiness of the one could 
require, or the dependanGe of the other dictate. 
With us the servant is recognised as having his rights 
as well as the master, and no humiliations are re- 
quired of him from which a well-regulated mind will 
revolt. 

Though the condition of servants is thus improved, 
there is a deference which they owe to every master, 
and every unbecoming familiarity ought to be avoided. 
Where these are permitted, by the folly or the weak- 
ness of the head of the family, his authority will soon 
become contemptible, and his dwelling a scene of con- 
fusion. You may discover weaknesses in their con- 
duct, which may lessen them in your eyes ; but instead 
of thinking on these, it becomes you to reflect on the 
title which Providence has given them to your respect, 
and to act accordingly. When they blame you for 
faults, if the charge is just, you should deem their re- 
proofs a kindness, even though expressed in harsh 
language. If they accuse you falsely through misin- 
formation, or from a mistaken idea of your motives 
and object, defend yourselves with that meekness of 
wisdom that carries conviction with it, and that soft 
answer that turns away wrath. " Never give a bad 
answer/' has been the counsel of wise parents to their 
children when going away from them to serve others, 
and the caution warns them against every reply that is 
improper in manner, in spirit, or in language. Such 
an answer may gratify pride and peevishness, but it 
often exasperates more than the commission of a real 
injury. 



.18.4 ON THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS. SERM. X. 

, It is your duty also to speak respectfully of the fa- 
milies you serve to others. To degrade them by 
your communications respecting them, is to disgrace 
yourselves. Circumstances may occur, which if known 
might injure their respectability; but these you have 
no right to disclose, nay you are bound to conceal 
them, unless you are called by a proper authority, and 
to answer some useful purpose to discover them. It is 
a most odious practice to draw from servants the se- 
crets of their masters' families, and it is an act of great 
baseness in them to detail those misfortunes or indis- 
cretions, the publication of which can gratify no feel- 
ings but those of malice and envy. 

4. The conduct of this captive calls you to an affec- 
tionate and sympathizing interest in the afflictions of 
(he families where you serve. Naaman, the master of 
this servant, was a leper. A revengeful heart would 
have triumphed in this circumstance as the vengeance 
of heaven on the leader of the troops that had dragged 
her to slavery; but the humanity of his conduct, and 
the pity of a benevolent spirit, made her feel for his 
calamity, and rendered her anxious for his relief. 
This disease was peculiarly loathsome, yet she thought 
of Naaman with the strongest compassion. Many 
were the afflicting circumstances in her own lot, yet 
these did not preclude her interest in the calamity of 
her master, nor her efforts to obtain for him a cure. 
Such generous and amiable conduct you must feel it 
your credit and your duty to imitate. 

In seasons of rejoicing, you are permitted to share in 
the happiness of the family. Any prosperous event, or 
any occurrence that bids fair to be a source of happi- 
ness, produces an exultation in which they wish you 
to mingle, and when the days of darkness come, you 
should'"- weep with them that weep." Disease may 



SERM. X. ON THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 1S5 

attack the parents of the family, or some of the chil- 
dren. In such circumstances you must not murmur 
at the toil of watching by them, or ministering to 
them. Let not the sick person behold on your face 
the indifference that will suggest to him that you care 
not for his sufferings, or the scowl that says you are 
irritated at the trouble to which you are subjected on 
his account. Let the law of kindness be on your 
tongue, often supplicate the Lord in his behalf, and 
behave with such steadiness and attention, that equal 
confidence will be felt in your care of the sick as in 
that of any member of the family. — It is an honoura* 
ble testimony to the kindness of your heart, when a 
sick child asks to have its medicine from your hands, 
or to be taken from its couch to sit on your knees ; 
but the toils and sufferings of a family in sickness, are 
much aggravated when the temper of servants is such, 
that the afflicted are uneasy in their presence, and will 
not permit them to perform to them any necessary of« 
fice. 

There are some aged persons who are placed under 
the care of servants, and whose restlessness debars 
them from sleep, whose fretfulness it is not easy to 
bear, and whose many infirmities and utter helpless- 
ness render it a laborious office to minister to their 
comfort. From their dreary abode, and from this 
difficult task, let not the young shrink. Your cheer- 
fulness may check their impatience, your pity and 
your care may awaken their gratitude ; and here you 
may learn the folly of wishing for long life, and by 
habitual exercise may rise to eminence in the most 
valuable graces of the Christian temper. 

The families where you live may be involved in 
difficulties, and in these your sympathy may gratify, 
though it cannot relieve them. Some, in the warmth 



XSG ON THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS. SERM. X. 

of their affection to a kind master, have offered him 
the earnings of a life spent in service to relieve him, 
and though these have been refused, the offer has 
been felt as a deed of the noblest generosity. It is 
the duty of servants in such cases to accommodate 
themselves most readily to the altered circumstances 
of the family, and to beware of aggravating their sor- 
rows by repining at the scanty allowance to which they 
may be reduced. 

These deeds of sympathy are required by the law 
of Christ, and in bearing one another's burdens we ful- 
fil that law. The time may come when you shall be 
stretched on a bed of languishing, and require from 
them the ministrations which you now give. Your 
kind attention will be then repaid, while the neglects 
of the careless and the selfish will be requited by an 
indifference which they will feel insupportable. No 
soothing voice from without, or from within, will dispel 
the gloomy impressions of a disordered fancy, and no 
kind efforts will mitigate the violence of disease, or 
gnu e it to a favourable crisis. 

5. The conduct of this young Israelite calls you to 
a careful remembrance of the pious lessons and scenes 
of your youth. She remembers what she had heard 
of the miracles of Elisha ; and such was her confidence 
in the pow T er and mercy of the God of Israel, by whom 
the prophet had performed these wonders, that she 
believed this Syrian stranger would not be excluded 
from his pity ; and that his leprosy, which had resist* 
ed all other methods of cure, would be removed by his 
influence. The strength of her faith will appear won- 
derful, if we consider the peculiar virulence of the le- 
prosy in the East, and that the healing of Naaman is 
the only miraculous cure of it recorded in the Old 
Testament; and this tribute to the perfections of God^ 



SERM.. X. ON THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 



1ST 



and to the character of his prophet, is made in a land 
of idols, where it was likely it would be ridiculed as a 
childish dream, or resented and punished as an im- 
pious indignity to the gods of Syria. 

Let it be your care to cherish the habits, and to re- 
member the lessons of your father's house, and to shew 
on every proper occasion how much you value them. 
If your lot is cast in families where a course of domes- 
tic worship and of religious instruction is carried on, 
improve this great privilege for promoting your pro- 
gress in knowledge and holiness. If your lot is cast 
where catechising is never practised, and praise to 
God is never sung, take heed lest in such circum- 
stances you fall from your own stedfastness. Omit 
not, in a single instance, the secret duties of religion ; 
forsake not the place where God's honour dwells, and 
"let your light so shine before men, that they may see 
your good works, and glorify your Father who is in 
heaven." 3 The power of religion, apparent in your 
language and manners, may influence some in the 
family, and by your counsels you may lead those who 
are rilled with anxiety and fears about their eternal in- 
terests, and miserable by the horrors of remorse, and 
the bondage of corruption, to the gracious and all-suffi- 
cient Saviour. In many instances masters have bless- 
ed the humble guides who led them to the hope of Is- 
rael, when the wisdom of the world could only involve 
them the more in perplexity and gloom. 

The remembrance of these lessons and scenes will 
guard you against the temptations of your lot, and sup- 
port you under all its afflictions. It is only when 
the sophistry of vice has made these the objects of 
scorn, that the young are induced to act unworthily, 



3 Matth. v. 16. 



1-88 ON THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS. SERM. X. 

and it is not till they have forgotten the tender mercy 
that surrounded their cradle, that they sink into des- 
pondence. Some servants remember with great exact- 
ness the marvellous tales of their childhood, and with 
these they delight to amuse the young under their care. 
Such injudicious treatment may be viewed as the cause 
of that fondness for what is wild and eccentric, and that 
habit of exaggeration by which many are misled and 
degraded. " Refuse profane and old wives fables/' 4 
remember the Lord great and good, " declare his 
doings, and make mention that his name is exalted. * 

6. In addition to these lessons taught you by the 
conduct of this young Israelite, I exhort you to main- 
tain the strictest honesty. This is a virtue of the ut- 
most importance to your present and eternal welfare. 
The exposure of the property of families before ser- 
vants, puts it in their power to steal, and some of them 
will not resist the temptation. The covetousness of 
the heart excites some to pilfer ; others are led to it to 
gratify profligate associates, or by their persuasion ad- 
mit them into the house to plunder ; and others, find- 
ing that their wages cannot procure the expensive ap- 
parel on which their hearts are set, purloin the proper- 
ty of their masters to obtain it. And can they have 
any satisfaction in surveying or wearing what is thus 
got ? Will not the voice of conscience be louder than 
that of vain-glory ? The fear of shame and punish- 
ment must make them curse the hour in which they 
first stretched forth their hands to iniquity ; or if through 
audacity in wickedness they brave these, their condi- 
tion is on that account the more deplorable. Their 
hearts must be depraved and hardened in no common 

* 1 Tim. iv. 7. 
3 



SERM. X. ON THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS* 189 

degree, and they are lost beyond the power of ordinary 
means to reclaim them. 

I say not these things from any suspicion of your 
integrity ; but, to use the language of the Apostle, M as 
my beloved sons I warn you/' 5 and to strengthen your 
abhorrence of all dishonesty, consider how solemnly it 
is condemned in the law of "God, and that theft is a 
crime peculiarly aggravated, when committed by ser-t 
vants from the confidence that is reposed in them. It 
was this consideration that made Joseph repel a temp- 
tation to an atrocious crime. " Behold my master 
wotteth not what is with me in the house> and he hath 
committed all that he hath to my hands, there is none 
greater in the house than I, neither hath he kept back 
any thing in the house from me, how then can I do 
this great wickedness and sin against God." 6 Let 
none think that they may purloin, without risk of detec- 
tion, some of the trinkets, or of the apparel of those 
who visit their masters, that they will not miss them, 
or make any strict enquiry after them. Masters will 
be irritated by such a gross breach of the laws- of hos* 
pitality, and it should not be forgotten how Gehazi was 
punished for imposing on Naaman, and that Elisha's 
spirit went with him, and observed him in the* whole 
scene of villany. 

The consequences of the crime of theft are dread- 
ful/even in this world. It covers with shame all the 
connections of the offender, makes a mother curse the 
day in which he was born, and " brings down his fa- 
ther's gray hairs with sorrow to the grave." The dis- 
grace that has been brought on some servants who 
were detected in the act of theft, has struck them to the 
heart, and their health has sunk under the influence of 



* 1 Cor. iv. 14, 



6 Gen. xxxix. 8, 9, 



190 ©N THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS. SERM. X. 

shame and grief. The body they were so eager to 
adorn has become ghastly and emaciated, and they 
have died under the horrid impression that their me- 
mory would rot. This crime is punished in a variety 
of ways by the hand of justice. Think on the gloom 
of a prison, on the infamy and the pain of the pillory 
and the scourge, on the multitudes who are cast out 
from their native land, and on the horrors of the gal- 
lows and the grave, to which they are consigned, whose 
death the safety of the community demands. And 
there is a higher tribunal where such criminals must 
appear, and where the impenitent shall receive for their 
doom everlasting destruction. 

Consider how much an honest servant is valued, 
how his imperfections are overlooked on account of his 
integrity, and that the righteous Lord beholds the up- 
right with a pleasant countenance. It will yield the 
sweetest pleasure to your friends to hear your masters 
express their confidence in your integrity, and your 
strict regard to « whatsoever things are just," will 
more effectually recommend to them the principles 
which you profess, than the most flaming zeal, and the 
most specious appearances of devotion. 

Finally, I would call you to the strictest purity and 
circumspection. There are some youag persons who 
are placed in situations perilous to their innocence, 
where it ought to be guarded as with a parent's vigi- 
lance. Let them never intermit for one moment their 
watchfulness and fear, and let the uniform propriety of 
their conduct shew that they possess such a degree of 
prudence and virtuous principle, as will suffer them to 
be cajoled by no flatteries, and beguiled by no arts. 
Quit every place as speedily as possible, where you 
cannot stay with security and reputation. Your cha- 
racter and your virtue are your only possessions, and 



SS3RM. X. ON THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS. IQl 

if these are gone, no respectable family will receive 
you. Your friends may feel themselves bound to ad- 
mit you, but it cannot be with those smiles of love that 
welcomed you in the days of innocence, but with in- 
dignation and horror, that must be expressed amidst 
the relentings of nature. If you have no friends, or if 
they are inexorable, your life must consume away in 
want and wretchedness. Let no offer of higher wages 
induce you to go into a family of loose character, and 
always give the preference to one distinguished by the 
fear of God. 

But there are servants who, though placed in the 
most regular and virtuous families, expose themselves 
to many temptations, by forming an intimacy with the 
unprincipled and immoral around them. By such com- 
panions some are persuaded to be absent from the 
dwellings of their masters at late hours, and on the 
clays allotted to them for recreation or for visiting their 
friends, are induced to run with them to the excess of 
riot. With a purpose cruel as that of the bloody mur- 
derer, they seek, by the most sacred assurances of af- 
fection, to ruin their victims for time and eternity. 
Go not in the way of such evil men ; be sober and vi- 
gilant, and " have no fellowship with the unfruitful 
works of darkness, but rather reprove them." 7 Shew, 
by the propriety of your conduct in the scene of amuse- 
ment, by your virtuous abhorrence of wanton mirth 
and intemperate excess, and by returning at a proper 
hour to your duty, that you wish to rejoice with trem- 
bling. Fools may laugh at you^ and reproach you as 
stiff, haughty, and precise ; but the wise will highly 
approve your conduct, and you will find its reward in 
your own peace and safety. " Stand in awe and sin 



7 Eph. v. 11. 



1Q2 ON THS DUTIES OF SERVANTS. SERM. X. 

not, commune with your own hearts on your bed, and 
be still/' 8 Form no intimacy with a stranger, how- 
ever specious his appearance, till you are well inform- 
ed as to his history and character, lest you find, when 
it is too late, that he has been pursuing the same 
schemes of deceit with you, by which he has ensnared 
others. Remember that innocence when lost is irre- 
trievable, and that for the punishment of the impure 
there is a " worm that never dies, and a fire that shall 
never be quenched." 

I have thus pointed out to you your chief duties, 
and such is the will of God in Christ Jesus concern- 
ing you. May God give you grace to enable you to 
perform all that he requires, and you shall assuredly 
find, that in doing his will there is great reward ! 

I conclude the discourse, by exhorting masters to 
consider what God requires of them. Let your con- 
duct to your servants be humane and generous. Naa- 
man, instead of treating this captive with the rigour 
allowed to be exercised to slaves, acted to her with 
such kindness, as to produce a grateful solicitude for 
his welfare ; and shall not you shew favour to 3'our 
servants, with whom you have one country and one 
faith ? Let not the young in your families be allowed 
to consider servants as persons on whom they may 
vent their petulant humour as they please, and whom 
they may mock, and teaze, and reproach, at their will. 
Shew them that such conduct is mean and base, and 
that it is the will of God that we should " honour all 
men." 9 

Pay all proper attention to the behaviour of your 
servants. There is a great meanness in acting the 



* Psal. iv. 4. 



» 1 Pet. a. 17. 



SERM. X. ON THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 



part of a spy over them, and unjust suspicions often 
suggest the idea and the purpose of crimes ; but it is a 
most dangerous indulgence to allow them to go out 
and to come in, without any enquiry as to the way m 
which they have been employed. You are bound by 
a regard to your present comfort, and your future ac- 
count, to maintain due inspection and controul. Ne- 
ver throw any obstructions in their way to religious or- 
dinances, and though their opinions and modes of wor- 
ship may be different from yours, respect the rights of 
conscience. In such matters you may advise, and it is 
only as to what is right or wrong in conduct that you 
should command or restrain. 

Labour to supply to young servants the want of life 
lessons and counsels of their parents. They, require 
from you double attention, and for it yen shall be 
doubly rewarded in their gratitude, and in the bless- 
ings of their father and mother. Be as solicitous for 
their proficiency as for that of your own children, and 
as just in acknowledging their acquirements, and let 
them have free access to every book in your dwelling 
adapted for their instruction and improvement. Sym- 
pathise with them in their ailments and sorrows. It 
is painful to think that servants whose strength is de- 
clining, are in some situations forced to labours which 
require a vigour that they never possessed, and how 
others are hurried away at the peril of their lives, and 
in a mode most unfit for their removal, when attacked 
by distempers likely to prove tedious or dangerous. In 
many cases it is proper to send them to their relations, 
but let this be done with a solicitous attention to their 
comfort and safety; let frequent enquiries be made re- 
specting them, and every suitable mean employed for 
their recovery. 

R 



194 



ON THE DUTIES OF SERVANTS. SERM. X. 



Let the honesty and worth of a good servant be 
duly appreciated. Such a servant is an ornament to 
religion, and one of the greatest blessings of a family. 
Let not chagrin at a servant's leaving you induce you 
to withhold the praise he deserves; but beware of 
giving high characters to the worthless. Some will do 
this to get rid quietly of wicked servants, and they are 
in the sight of God chargeable, at least in part, with the 
depredations which these commit on families which re* 
ceive them on their recommendation. Prepare for that 
day when the bond and the free shall stand before God, 
and when you must give an account of the manner in 
which you have exercised your authority. And may 
the Lord have mercy on you, and on your dwellings. 
Amen. 




SERM. XI. 



©N PRAYER. 



19* 



SERMON XL 

ON PBAYEB. 



1 ThESS. v. 17. 
" Pray without ceasing." 

In this chapter .we have a very beautiful specimen of 
Christian morality. The spirit which it breathes is 
pure and lovely, and the manner in which it is ex- 
pressed is simple and concise, yet truly energetic. 
Were the injunctions of the Apostle, in this passage, 
generally practised in churches, the influence of reli- 
gion would be extended wonderfully in the world, and 
the comfort of the disciples would abound. The pre- 
valence of such a temper and such manners, would 
banish instability from principle, anger from the bo- 
som, and moroseness from the intercourse of life. In 
the closet it would lead bs to candid enquiry, and ha- 
bitual devotion ; in the temple it would produce reve- 
rence for truth, and the diligent improvement of divine 
influence; and, before the world, it would exhibit in 
the conversation of Christians, not the preciseness and 
the gloom of hypocrisy and spiritual pride, but the iu- 
nocencc and cheerfulness of a kind and contented 
heart. It is astonishing that, with such a passage as 



i$$ ON PRAYER. SERM. XI.* 

this before their eyes, any can represent the writings 
of Paul as adapted only to engage us in bewildering 
speculation, and as cherishing a jealousy and dislike of 
moral admonition. From him the moralist may learn 
how to delineate duty most happily, and how to recom- 
mend it with most success. The precept which I have 
selected as a subject of discourse, calls us to an exer- 
cise by which the best dispositions are cherished, and 
life is blessed in all its scenes. 

In this discourse I shall explain the nature of prayer, 
and the manner in which it should be performed ; — 
point out the frequency with which we should engage 
in it ; — and recommend it especially to the young. 

1. Let us consider the nature of prayer, and the 
manner in which it should be performed. Prayer, ta- 
ken in a large sense, includes adoration of the divine 
excellencies. Angels celebrate these in their worship ; 
and though their faculties are far superior to ours, they 
feel that they are not equal to the theme, and that it 
is an act of condescension in Jehovah to accept their 
homage. But God permits us also to lift our voices 
in his praise; and it is highly proper that our prayers, 
should begin with adoration of Jehovah, as it will ex- 
cite in us that solemnity and reverence so necessary, 
and so becoming in every suppliant ; and restrain us. 
from petitions which it would be unworthy of Him to 
grant. 

Prayer, in a large sense, includes also confession of 
sin. It is meet that we should acknowledge the de- 
pravity of our hearts, and the tresspasses of our lives, 
with an affecting sense of the malignity of sin, and a 
dread of its consequences. The blush of penitential 
shame, and the tears of godly sorrow, beautify the 
countenance of a good man ; while the faulterhig voice 



SERM. XI. 



ON PRAYER. 



197 



and the rising sigh, indicate that the heart is burdened 
and agitated with that which it feels God only can re- 
lieve. To produce a proper sense of sin, let us turn 
our eyes to the cross of Christ. The groans that rise 
from his breaking heart, and the torture of his suspend- 
ed body, call on us to " know and see, that it is an 
evil and a bitter thing that we have forsaken the Lord 
our God." 1 

Prayer also, in a large sense, includes thanksgiving 
to God for his goodness. So widely are the blessings 
of Jehovah extended, that this is a tribute which he 
may claim from all places of his dominion, and from all 
his creatures. There are gleams of consolation, which 
cheer us in the darkest circumstances. The mourner 
has reason to mingle the song of thanksgiving with his 
lamentations, and the sick man with his groans. Even 
the beggar in his rags, whose fare is the crumbs that 
fall from the table of opulence, or the bread distributed 
by the hand of public charity, hath reason to bless 
God for the benevolence which He hath implanted in 
the hearts of his fellow men, and for the Gospel which 
is preached to the poor. 

But prayer is most commonly viewed as consisting 
in making request to God for his blessings. Cavillers 
have represented it as vain and foolish to pray, and ask 
us if we imagine that the solicitations of his creatures 
are necessary to incline Infinite Benevolence to bestow 
its blessings, or can induce the unchangeable God to 
alter his procedure or his plans ? It is a sufficient an- 
swer to this to state, that this is the mode which He has 
prescribed for the receiving of his favours ; that it is 
admirably calculated to cherish the spirit of piety ; and. 



1 Jcr. ii, 19. 



ON PJRAYER. 



SERM. Xi. 



that it carries on an intercourse with God, moat im- 
proving and delightful to our hearts. 

In our prayers, we ask from the Father of mercies 
the blessings of nature and of grace. The good things 
of this life should be asked in the spirit of moderation 
and submission; for a man's happiness consists/ not 
in the abundance of those things that he possesses, and 
prosperity may be dangerous to our moral interest* 
The bark that is overloaded with the most precious 
commodities is in danger of sinking, even in the calm- 
est sea. Our Lord has taught .us to pray, " Give us 
this day our daily bread/' a petition which inculcates a 
spirit of constant dependence on God, and chastened 
desires after earthly things. i 

With respect to spiritual blessings, our desires after 
these should be ample and eager. The pardon of our 
sins, the sanctincation of our natures, the subjugation 
of our spiritual enemies, and our improvement under af- 
fliction, in wisdom and sobriety, are blessings essential 
to our happiness. It is a melancholy proof of the ig- 
norance and carnality of men, that these blessings are 
asked so seldom and so coldly, in comparison of those 
of a temporal kind. We may judge of our state be- 
fore God, by those blessings which we are most strong- 
ly prompted to ask, and which occupy the chief place 
in our secret devotions. 

My young friends, God now appears to you as lie 
did to Solomon, and says, " Ask what I shall give 
thee." 2 If you can solicit the opulence and splendour of 
high station, or the unlimited gratification of your pas- 
sions, know assuredly that these requests may be grant- 
ed to your ruin ; but if you ask the spirit, of wisdom, 
an interest in Christ, devout affections, and a life of 



* 1 lungs iii. 5. 



3-E KM. M. ON PRAYER. f*Jg 

innocence, God will grant you in these an honour 
which no worldly success can yield, and a joy far su- 
perior to the most pleasurable indulgences of a cor* 
rupted heart.. 

But let us consider in what manner prayer should 
be performed. And I remark, in the first place, that 
the heart must be engaged in it. The hypocrite may 
imagine that a face of seriousness, and language solemn 
and urgent, will find acceptance with God ; but though 
these may please men as . symptoms of devotion, He 
regards them not where the spirit of» religion is not 
felt. One earnest look, and one fervent cry proceed* 
ing from the heart, hath power with God, while the 
mere pomp of words is an abomination to Him. 

We must pray also in faith. It is this principle 
that raises the eye to the throne of grace, and without 
it prayer would be felt as a. hopeless task. It would 
dishonour the Father of goodness to come before him 
with suspicions of his readiness to grant our requests, 
or with that trembling reluctance and hesitation which* 
may suit the intercourse of the slave with his master, 
but not that of a child with his parent. 

We must pray, believing that God is able and wil- 
ling to bestow what we seek, and that however un- 
worthy we are, for the sake of his Son he will freely' 
give us .all things. ..We must rely on Christ's merits- 
for the acceptance, of our persons and services, and on 
his intercession for the answer of our prayers. It is 
by faith in the mediation of Jesus th^t we can alone 
pray like Christians. Through that 'mediation, God- 
can, without dishonour to his justice, bestow the most 
precious blessings on the guilty, and it is on it that our 
Saviour calls us to fix our confidence, when he com- 
mands us to pray in his name. 

We ought to pray with humility. Pride mars every 



200 



ON PRAYER. 



SERM. XL 



duty. It is disgusting and offensive in giving alms, 
and in administering reproof, but it is still more so in 
prayer. A creature laden with iniquity, and deserving 
nothing from God but wrath and anguish, feels that no 
spirit so well becomes him as that of the publican, and 
that no prayer suits him better than this, " God be mer- 
ciful to me a sinner." 5 And let us remember that it 
is not the language of abasement, or low prostrations, 
that constitute humility, but the heart-felt conscious- 
ness of our own vileness, resulting from a view of the 
divine character, and of our own by a light from hea- 
ven. 

We ought to pray with importunity. This earnestness 
our Saviour hath taught us to use, and hath given us 
specimens of its nature, and instances of its success. 
Of this importunity he hath set us a most affecting ex- 
ample, when e: being in an agony, he prayed more ear- 
nestly/' It is necessary that our importunity be care- 
fully guarded from every emotion of presumption, and 
it must be prompted by a sense of our necessities, and 
maintained by confidence in the Divine compassion, 
To men it soon becomes disgusting and offensive, but 
the Almighty delights in it, not from the pleasure that 
he takes in the anxiety of his creatures, but from the 
principle which it indicates, and the manner in which 
it leads us to preserve and improve his favours. 

While engaged in this duty, we must carefully 
watch our hearts, that those vain and impure thoughts 
may not be permitted to enter which destroy our com- 
fort in prayer. Our adversary the devil, and the cor- 
ruptions of our own hearts, combine their influence in 
suggesting these ; and when they are repulsed in one 
form, they will attempt to introduce them by another ; . 



3 Lukg xviii. 13, 



sERM. XI. 



ON PRAYER; 



but let • us never indulge at any time a thought, or 
wish, which we would blush to see rising within us at- 
a throne of grace ; let vigilance be unremitting, and 
the more urgent these are for admission, let us be more 
earnest in our requests for sanctifying grace. 

I only observe further, on this part of the subject, 
that we ought to look with earnest desire to the Holy 
Spirit for his aid in this exercise. I am well aware 
how often the doctrine of Divine influence in prayer 
hath been abused, to justify the wildest effusions of en- 
thusiasm. * Petitions fraught with presumption, and 
malignant feeling, and expressed with the most unbe- 
coming familiarity, have been held up as the dictates 
of the Holy Ghost; and the more irrational and in- 
coherent their rhapsodies were, fanatics have consider* 
ed them as more plain indications of supernatural in- 
fluence. But let us not on this account be afraid to 
assert that the Spirit helps our infirmities in prayer> 
composes the heart, stirs up the graces of faith, hope 
and love/ to exercise, directs us what petitions to. pre- 
sent, and to wait for an answer to them. The humble 
and timid suppliant, when agitated by fear, and op- 
pressed with guilt and sorrow, has often experienced 
this influence opening his heart to devotion, and filling 
his mouth with arguments. The prayers influenced 
by the Holy Spirit, are distinguished by their humility 
and reverence, as well as their elevation and ardour ; 
and by the self-denial, and active virtue to which they 
prompt, as well as by the consolation and joy which 
they yield. The Redeemer has promised to send the 
Spirit ; and in every act of devotion, let us desire and 
solicit his renewed influences, for without them it will 
be devoid of light and energy. 

I proceed now, in the second place, to consider the 
frequency with which we should engage in this duty. 



202 



ON PRAYER. 



SERM. XI. 



The text enjoins us to pray without ceasing. This 
expression, and some others of a similar kind, have 
been grossly misunderstood. There were some in the 
earlier periods of the church, who maintained that the 
whole work and duty of the Christian was prayer. 
A false view of this text, has led many to retire from 
the world to cells, monasteries, and convents, in order 
to devote the whole of their time to religious exer- 
cises. But in such places we see, instead of the cheer- 
ful and glowing service of piety, the whims and rigours 
of a gloomy and disgusting superstition. There are 
other duties required of us besides prayer; and the 
private services of religion are intended to fit us for 
the discharge of the offices of utility, and beneficence 
to our fellow creatures. The precept intimates that 
we ought to cherish a devout confidence in the care of 
heaven, and a habitual sense of the Divine presence. 
It may be considered also as an intimation of the will 
of God, that we should improve all the seasons of 
prayer. In the morning it should be our first employ- 
ment to pour out our hearts to Him, who brings forth 
the sun from his chamber, and whose blessing alone 
ean prosper us in the labours of the day. Every day 
brings with it various duties and mercies, wants and 
temptations, cares and sorrows ; and it certainly be- 
comes us to solicit from God whatever is necessary to 
fit us for these, and to commit our w r ay to him. 

At night we ought to acknowledge Him who gives 
his beloved sleep, and places underneath us his ever- 
lasting arms. It is by imploring the protection of 
God that the hope is cherished, that he will preserve 
us from the terror by night, from the malice of the 
powers of darkness, and from sleeping the sleep of 
death. 

When our situation admits of it, we ought to devote 



SERM. XI. 



ON PRAYER. 



203 



a portion of our time during the day to prayer. This 
will not impede our worldly business, but will animate 
us in it, relieve the heart from the oppression of 
anxiety and care, and guard it from that deadening 
influence, which the hurry of the world is so apt to 
diffuse over the pious emotions of the soul. My 
young friends, let the retreats in which you seek 
for knowledge be daily sanctified by prayer ; and let 
not little children be afraid to go to pray in the 
dark, or in a lonely place. Guardian angels surround 
the solitude of devotion ; and the spirit of suppliea* 
tion will banish from the fancy, the phantoms which 
terrify the weak, the ignorant, and the superstitious. 
" Thou when thou pray est, enter into thy closet, and 
shut the door, and pray to thy Father which seeth in 
secret, and he will reward thee openly." 4 There you 
may pour out your hearts before the Lord ; there you 
may seclude yourselves from every object that might 
distract your attention ; and there, unrestrained by the 
presence of your fellow creatures, your sighs may rise, 
and your tears may flow. 

It becomes us also to cherish the spirit of prayer, 
and frequently to raise our hearts in devout ejacula- 
tions to God. In this way we may pray in a crowd, 
as well as in solitude ; amid the hurry of business, as 
well as when we are resting from labour. From prayer 
in other forms, the malignity and violence of enemies 
may debar us, but " the powers of hell" cannot pre- 
vent the ascent of the soul to God, or interrupt the 
course of its feeblest sigh. 

It is the duty of parents to pray to God morning 
and evening with their families. It is to be regretted 
that this pleasing rite is going so fast into disuse, 



4 Mattb. vi. 0. 



ON PII-VYEH. 



SERM. XI. 



and that while no length of time is grudged for parties 
of amusement, or the acquisition of wealth, a few 
minutes are thought too great a sacrifice for the wor- 
ship of that Being who is the protector of families, 
-and whose influence unites their hearts in harmony 
and love. If this venerable practice of your fathers- has 
gone down in any of your families, I beseech you by 
the regard you feel for their memory, to remember 
whence you have fallen, and to repent. Let not the 
young in serious families ever allow themselves to 
stay out till the service is over, however agreeable 
.their associates ma}^ be ; and let them not slumber 
and sleep, when they should be shewing forth God's 
loving kindness in the morning, and his faithfulness 
at night. A father's prayers are often his best lessons. 
It is an interesting fact in the memoirs of a pious 
young person, whom God was pleased to take away in 
early life to himself, that she frequently retired before 
family worship for a few minutes, to offer up seme 
petitions for herself, that she might not approach the 
throne of grace in a light or careless manner, and that 
all in the house might be blessed in the services of de- 
votion. 

It is the duty of Christians to meet frequently with 
each other for social prayer. It is to be lamented 
that meetings of this description are so rare, and that 
the contentious and ostentatious spirit too often mani- 
fested in them, has contributed to furnish their ene- 
mies with specious arguments against them ; yet sure- 
ly it is possible to conduct them in such a manner, as 
that the exercises of devotion shall occupy the chief 
part of the time, and that when religious subjects are 
discussed, the truth may be spoken in love. Meet- 
ings for pra} : er would be highly advantageous to the 
young, when Providence collects a number of them to- 
5 



SERM. XI. 



ON PRAYER, 



205 



gether in the pursuit of knowledge ; and we rejoice to 
hear, that in some seminaries of education, such as- 
sociations have been formed. The prevalence of these 
would quiet the anxieties of many parents, who trem- 
ble at the idea of exposing their children to min- 
gle with the idle and the dissipated, and would be 
happy to place them among the wise, the sober, and 
the devout. Such young men are an ornament to 
schools and colleges, and their modesty and regularity, 
their diligence and proficiency, their correct views of 
truth, and amiable simplicity of manners, prove that 
devotion is the guide of genius, and preserves it from 
disgusting vanity and eccentric speculation. 

In the public prayers of the church you ought to 
bear a part. This is a very solemn part of a minis- 
ter's duty ; and requires from him much serious medi- 
tation. In the performance of this service, the prayers 
of our Lord for the disciples, and of the apostles for 
the churches, may guide him as to the objects he 
should have in view, and the temper of mind in which 
he should pray. There are too many who do not 
consider this as a very important part of worship, for 
their conduct shews that they feel no regret at being 
too late for it in the commencement of divine service, 
or at retiring before the concluding prayer ; and even of 
those who are present, there are many who, by their 
irreverent gestures, and idle gazing on every ob- 
ject around, demonstrate that their hearts are not ajt 
all interested. These circumstances are employed as 
arguments for the use of forms of prayer, parts of 
which are repeated by the people, and which are said 
to secure their fixed attention. While you urge against 
such modes the languor that perpetually recurring 
forms must produce, shew, by the solemnity and deep 
interest of your manner, that the minister is expres- 



206 



ON PRAYER. 



SERM. XX. 



sing the meditations, the wishes, and the feelings of 
your hearts. It is a beautiful sight to behold the 
young, exhibiting in public prayer the gravity and the 
fervour that become so solemn a part of worship ; and 
let them remember that every symptom of levity is an 
act of rudeness to their fellow- worshippers, and of im- 
piety against God. The grace of devotion is the no- 
blest of all beauty. 

Let me now, in the last place, recommend prayer to 
the young. 

1. The pleasure that attends devotion, suggests a 
powerful motive to recommend prayer to you. Plea- 
sure is a word which charms the hearts of the young ; 
though such are the false ideas entertained of its na- 
ture, that to speak of pleasure in prayer, appears to 
many of them absurd. They connect with devotion, 
languor, restraints and austerities, which to a gay 
temper seem intolerable. But judge of devotion by 
the precepts of Scripture requiring it, and by the con- 
duct of its enlightened patterns, and you will see that 
it must be productive of joy. To apply to the Father 
of wisdom and goodness for the relief, aid, and gui- 
dance which we require ; to behold him listening gra- 
ciously to our requests ; to hear from him assurances 
of his favour ; and to receive from him the blessings 
we have sought, must yield to the suppliant's heart a 
sublime and exquisite felicity. And where, my young 
friends, can you find a joy, that reason or conscience 
will say deserves to be compared to this ? The vo- 
luptuary's boast of his raptures is soon at an end ; and 
horror often darkens the countenance, where you ima- 
gine mirth continually sparkles ; but the pleasures of 
devotion never fail, and from the bed of death, you 
may often hear the assurance that bears such ample 



SERM. &ft ON PRAYER* 2QT 

testimony to the bliss of religion, " that the seasons 
occupied in devotion were the happiest of a saint's 
life." This is a pleasure of which no external inci- 
dent shall deprive you ; and your relish for it shall 
increase in proportion to your progress in holiness. 

2. Prayer will be a powerful restraint from the sins 
to which the young are prone. Levity and giddiness 
are often the faults of youth, disgusting to those with 
whom they associate, unfitting them for continued 
exertion in any employment, and suggesting to their 
friends the most painful anxieties respecting their suc- 
cess in life. Now nothing will so effectually check 
such a temper, as the frequent contemplation of the 
Divine glory ; and that often-recurring sense of our 
guilt, dependance, and frailty, which the spirit of 
prayer generates. It is impossible that the man given 
to prayer should live like a fool. Prayer is an excel- 
lent mean for subduing evil passions. The contem- 
plation of the Divine purity kindles in the soul the love 
of holiness ; and the gratifications of sensuality are 
abhorred as the degradation of our nature, as well as 
dreaded for the misery which follows them. He who 
prays for the happiness of his parents, will not indulge 
himself in habits by which their substance will be 
wasted, or their hearts broken. He who is accustom- 
ed to ask the Divine direction, will not repel with 
stubbornness the counsels of the good, or go on fro- 
wardly in the Way of his own heart ; and he who feels 
that without God he can do nothing, and solicits the 
continusd influence of Divine grace, will not be in* 
flated with pride, or desirous of vain-glory. This ex- 
ercise too has been found admirably calculated to re- 
press petulance and ferocity of manners, and to form 
the most irritable tempers to mildness and forbear- 
ance. 



I 

SOS 



ON PRAYER, 



SERM. XU 



S. Prayer will have the happiest influence in form- 
ing the young to true excellence of character. Excel- 
lence of character is the noblest object of ambition. 
It opens before the saint the honour that comes from 
God, and which abides with him when all earthly dis- 
tinctions have passed away. Now devotion cherishes 
every principle of goodness. It was while our Lord 
prayed that he was transfigured ; and it is while we 
i aise our hearts to Him that sits on the throne of grace, 
that we are " changed into his image from glory to 
glory It is impossible that he who habitually adores 
the Divine mercy, and supplicates its blessings, can be 
selfish and cruel. He must imbibe the spirit of bene- 
ficence, and go forth from his closet to walk in love. 
He who implores pardon from God for his daily sins, 
will not be a stranger to the generosity that forgives 
enemies, or yield his soul to the influence of malignant 
passions. The hearts of the young feel keenly every 
indignity, and pride demands revenge, but prayer will 
recal softer feelings. 

The habitual acknowledgment of the Divine good- 
Bess tends also to strengthen gratitude to God, and to 
excite to those returns to earthly benefactors which 
few are disposed to make, but which all unite in extol- 
ling as amiable and praise- worthy conduct. He who 
is accustomed to come to God by Christ, cannot forget 
the grace of his mediation, or cease to regard him as 
" the way, the truth, and the life." In short, there is 
not a grace of the Spirit that does not feel the influence 
of prayer. It calls them forth to exercise, and it 
brings them the means of restoration from decay, and 
of advancing to perfection. Some of the graces of the 
Spirit shall die with it. Faith shall terminate with its 
last request, hope with its last look, and repentance 



SERM. XI. 



ON PRAYER. 



209 



with its last wail. Adoration and thanksgiving are 
the only parts of it that can be found in heaven. 

4. Consider what comfort and advantage prayer 
Will yield you. The young have many important ar- 
rangements -to make, on the prudence of which their 
respectability and happiness through life depend. The 
impulse of blind and violent passions, their own inex- 
perience, and the counsels of interested friends, have 
led many into occupations and connections in which 
they have been miserable; but the young man given to 
prayer will solicit the Divine guidance, and He that 
hath mercy on him will lead him. 

The young are often disappointed in the hopes they 
had formed of lasting and useful friendship with their 
companions ; but prayer will open to them an inter- 
course with God, from whose love nothing can separate,, 
and extend their knowledge of his character and grace. 
The parents will be torn from you to whom it was a 
pleasure to gratify your wishes, whose hearts melted at 
your infant cries, and from whom you never asked any 
thing in their power to grant, which was not bestowed 
or you were convinced by them of the impropriety of 
the request. But though death will remove them from 
all intercourse with you, the heart of your God is 
never insensible to the necessities of his suppliants, and 
his ears will be ever open to your cry. At your period 
of life, the sensibilities of the heart have not been blunt* 
ed by commerce with the world, or the frequent as* 
saults of sorrow. A. disastrous event affects you deep- 
ly, but devotion hath an assuasive balm, the virtue of 
which many a suppliant hath felt, and which you will 
feel, healing the wound which otherwise might have 
been left to rankle into incurable malignity. 

Finally, God invites you in the most affectionate 
manner to this exercise. " Wilt thou not from this 



210 



OX PRAYER, 



SERM. XL 



time forth cry unto .me/" My Father, thou art the 
guide of my youth?" 5 And can you resist such a 
gracious and melting expostulation ? It is not for his 
sake that he asks it; for what avails your homage to 
him, but for your own. And I beseech you to consi- 
der, that if youth passes without devotion, you will in 
all probability sink into a settled habit of irrehgion, and 
die without calling on God, or have your intreaties re- 
pelled with scorn. The last requests of the wicked 
will be addressed, not to the heart of their Judge, nor 
to the angels and saints who shall come with him in 
his glory, but to the rocks and mountains, as if they 
thought they would sooner yield than the inexorable 
Jehovah in the great day of his wrath. O come then 
and take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name 
of the Lord. Let not this be added to the many calls 
to prayer which have been disregarded. When you re- 
turn to your dwellings, enter into your closets, and be- 
wail your past neglect of duty ; form in the presence 
of God the solemn purpose of devotion, implore the 
spirit of prayer, and yield yourselves to his influence. 
It is my earnest wish that you may live and die in the 
power of godliness. 

But prayer may be also recommended to persons in 
the midst of their days. You are often tempted to 
neglect prayer amid the hurry of the world, but while 
you think what you may lose by missing an opportunity 
of transacting business, it becomes you to reflect how 
much may be lost by restraining prayer before God, 
even for one season, and that it is easy so to arrange 
your affairs, as to leave time for devotion, and time 
for all the duties of your calling. 

Remember that it is the blessing of the Lord that 



5 Ja\ iii. #. 



SERM. XS. 



ON PRAYER. 



211 



maketh rich/ and that godliness with contentment is 
great gain. How' easy is it for him to blast all your 
schemes, and how little enjoyment will you find in 
wealth when attained, if conscience upbraids you with 
your ingratitude, and reminds you that you have no- 
thing that is sanctified by prayer. 

Prayer .will preserve you from yielding to tempta- 
tions to indolence and profusion on the one hand, and 
to avarice and dishonesty on the other. He who 
asks God to give him his daily bread, will not seek it 
by the wages of unrighteousness, nor waste it in the 
indulgences of sensuality. The spirit of devotion will 
render you faithful to your employers, by keeping it 
constantly in your view that you have a Master in 
heaven ; it will animate you amid the toils, solace you 
amid the cares, and support you amid the trials of life. 
It will yield you consolation when the world yields 
none, and in the most perplexing cases it will obtain 
for you the guidance of infinite wisdom. Prayer is one 
of the best means of making you rich towards God. 

Let the aged cherish devotion. A prayerless old man 
is a most pitiable object. He is like a decayed and shat- 
tered vessel in the midst of a stormy ocean, the crew 
of which are stupified, and make no exertion to save 
her from destruction. Consider that you must soon 
die, and if you will not call upon God while he is near, 
you may pray for mercy in your last moments in vain. 
You may knock at the gate of heaven, but may be 
driven away from it by that awful mandate which will 
put an end to your hopes, and to your intreaties for 
ever, " Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity ; I 
know you not." 6 In vain, if God reject you, will you 
send for good men to pray for you. God may say to 



6 Luke xiii. 27. 



ON PRAYER. 



SERM. XI. 



them, pray not thou for that sinner, neither lift up a 
single wish for him, for I will not hear thee. On the 
other hand, think of the advantages of prayer to the 
aged. Amid the langour and feebleness of age, inter- 
course with God will revive you, and the spirit of de- 
votion will spread a glow of cheerfulness over the wrink- 
led face, and guide the feet in the way of peace. It 
will sooth the regret with which you look back on the 
past, and brighten the hope with which you anticipate 
the future. 

Men may pay little attention to your complaints, and 
instead of the language of compassion, may address you 
in terms of indifference and insult ; but to God you 
may pour out your sorrows, nor can your frequent ap* 
plication to him either fatigue his attention, or exhaust 
his sympathy. On the pillow of religion the weary 
head may recline, and to lull the worn out pilgrim to 
rest, she pours forth beside him her grave sweet melo- 
dy. Dreadful will be the misery of the impious when 
they are turned into hell. They shall be punished 
with everlasting exclusion from God's presence, and 
shall express their anguish in weeping, and wailing 
and gnashing of teeth. But the spirit of devotion pre- 
pares for the land of rest, for fulness ef joy which pre- 
cludes all solicitation for supply, and for the work of 
eternal praise. " Lord teach us to pray." 



?£HM. XII. EARLY ACQUAINTANCE, &t\ 



SERMON XII. 

EARLY ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE SCRIP'TURHS 
RECOMMENDED. 



g Tim. iu. 15. 
" From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures." 

In nothing is the spirit of the world more obviously 
different from the spirit of religion, than in the praises 
which it bestows on the accomplishments of the young. 
It lavishes its applause on qualities which possess no in- 
trinsic excellence, which are evanescent in their na* 
ture, and which often lead their possessors, or are made 
the instruments of leading others into the most degrad- 
ing vices. Even those worldly men who would dis- 
dain to applaud the beauty of external appearance, or 
the gracefulness of fashionable manners, consider this 
as the noblest character of the young, that they are in- 
timately acquainted with the various parts of classical 
and elegant literature. Were it. mentioned in some 
circles that a young person loved and studied his Bi- 
ble, it would be regarded as a proof of silliness or su- 
perstitious prejudice ; the conclusion would be instant- 
ly adopted, that he would never rise to eminence in 
business or in science, and that the habits which he had 
formed would doom him to slavish dependence, and te 



214* EARLY ACQUAINTANCE WITH SERM. XI. 



a tame imitation of the course of others, by repressing 
completely the bold and eager spirit of enterprize and 
speculation. In the most celebrated seminaries of 
education, little attention is paid to the oracles of God, 
and few efforts are made to inspire the youthful mind 
with admiration and love of the Holy Scriptures, 
while years are occupied in teaching them to under- 
stand, and to admire the works of the poets and ora- 
tors of Greece and Rome, and in making them ac- 
quainted with the various theories of philosophy. 

How opposite to such views and conduct are the 
ideas suggested by our text. Though Paul was no 
despiser of human learning, and though he valued its 
various acquirements as highly as they deserved, he 
boldly asserts the superior necessity and advantages of 
acquaintance with the Scriptures, and while lie ad- 
mired and loved the many estimable qualities of Timo- 
thy, he mentions his early knowledge of the Bible as 
an ornament to his character, and the blessing of his 
life. This view of the character of Timothy our text 
exhibits to the attention of the young, and they may 
be assured of this, that though it may be slighted and 
scorned by profane and misjudging men, it is in the 
sight of God, and of all who judge by his Spirit, an ac- 
quirement of the greatest value. 

In the following discourse I shall point out the bene- 
fits which the young may derive from an acquaintance 
with the Holy Scriptures ; and give some directions to 
assist them in gaining a proper knowledge of the ora- 
cles of God. 

I. What benefits will the young derive from the 
knowledge of the Scriptures ? 

1. In the Bible they will obtain the most satisfying 
information on subjects of the highest importance* 



SERM. XI. THE SCRIPTURES RECOMMENDED. 215 

It is impossible to survey the various appearances of 
the creation, and of society, without perceiving many 
things which it is difficult to reconcile with the ideas 
suggested by reason with regard to the Supreme Be* 
ing, and whatever proceeds from him. The number 
and prosperity of the wicked, the slow advances made 
in pursuits intended for the improvement of human 
nature, the early death of the amiable and the useful, 
and the apparent termination of all the ways of man in 
the grave, must perplex the youthful mind while it 
contemplates the state of the moral world. And amid 
all that is fair and majestic in the creation by which 
the sensibility of the young is so powerfully moved, 
there are scenes of sterility and desolation which seem 
marked out as the abode of the king of terrors. If 
they ask a solution of these difficulties from the dis* 
puters of this world, they will only augment their per- 
plexities by their opposite theories, and leave them to 
the mournful conclusion, that it is the doom of man to 
live and to die in uncertainty and darkness. 

But let the young go to the Scriptures, and their 
minds will be set at rest. Let them bring forward 
their difficulties there, and revelation will shed over 
them its joyful light. It tells us that man is a fallen 
creature, and that the earth is cursed for his sake ; 
that there is a Redeemer appointed, whose merits and 
power shall make all things new ; that the disorders 
and calamities of society are necessary for the trial and 
the culture of the virtues of the good ; that beyond 
the grave there is a world where the saints are happy 
in the presence of their Lord, and that at the appoint- 
ed season their spirits shall return to their bodies 
raised in incorruption and glory. One would imagine 
that information such as this would have been wel- 
comed by all ; but the presumption of the human 



EARLY ACQUAINTANCE WITtt 



serm. xr. 



mind is apt to scorn what its own efforts could never 
have discovered, and to prefer its own vain dreams to 
the counsels of heaven. Happy is that young man 
who, disregarding the malignant scoffs of fleshly wis- 
dom, embraces the truth as it is in Jesus, and feels 
that here alone the anxious mind can enter into rest. 

2. In the Holy Scriptures the young will find the 
best objects for their glowing affections, and the no- 
blest patterns for their imitation. The ardent attach- 
ments of the young are too often devoted to objects 
which demand from them the sacrifice of innocence and 
peace, of fortune and friends. They are ready also, 
from the glare that sometimes surrounds the spend- 
thrift, and the man of gallant^, to think it a proof of 
a great and liberal mind to follow them. They con- 
sider their profligate audacity as indicating great en- 
ergy of mind, and their profusion as a generosity too 
powerful for the cold restraints of prudence. It is 
obvious, that by such false ideas of character and con- 
duct, they .will be misled into paths where every step 
may be their destruction. 

But in the Bible their attention is directed to objects 
worthy of their best affections. The Father of good- 
ness is revealed here in all his bright and endearing 
excellencies, and the youthful heart is required to 
yield to Him its reverence and its love. The charac- 
ter of Christ is delineated in the most captivating 
form, and every grace which can excite wonder, or 
engage affection, is displayed in the sacred history of 
his life and death. The young are here taught to 
view the Lord of all made under the law, bearing 
with patience calumny and suffering, maintaining un- 
spotted holiness amidst the corruption of the world, 
and dying for enemies. To be conformed to the 
image of Christ, is the perfection of our nature, and 



SERMt XII. THE- SCRIPTURES RECOMMENDED. £17 



to follow his steps is the whole duty of man. It is to 
men animated by the spirit of the Lord Jesus, that the 
hearts of the young are thus guided as the safest com- 
panions with whom they can associate, and as the 
friends whom they may fully trust. The specious 
qualities which captivate so many to their ruin, are 
like the beautiful hue of poisonous fruit, tempting to 
the eye, but the instrument of destruction to those 
who partake of it ; but the graces of genuine religion 
are the produce of the tree of life, excellent and comefy, 
the strength and the joy of the heart. 

S. In the Holy Scriptures the young are most power- 
fully cautioned against the temper and the conduct 
which they ought to avoid. 

Many of the books which are put into the hands of 
the young, are fitted to encourage the presumption 
that despises controul, the vanity that scorns the 
sphere where it might labour with credit, and aspires 
to one quite beyond its reach, and for which it is in 
no respect adapted, and the romantic attachments 
which sacrifice rational prospects of comfort, and the 
anxious wishes of friends for objects which fancy has 
decked in ideal excellencies. It is by their ministering 
to such tempers, that we must account for the asto- 
nishing influence of such books over the minds and 
habits of the young, and for their disrelish of those 
graver productions which appeal to their reason, and 
call on them to mortify the lust of the eye and the 
pride of life. 

But in the Bible the lessons of virtuous caution are 
taught in the most impressive manner, and the folly 
of disregarding them is illustrated by a variety of ex- 
amples. What a striking warning is given against 
jealousy and malignant feeling, towards relatives and 

T 



♦ 



213 EARLY ACQUAINTANCE WITH SERM. XII. 

companions, in the murder of Abel by Cain ; — against 
ambition and turbulence, disobedience to parents, and 
rebellion against lawful authority, in the conduct and 
fate of Absalom ; — and against sensual desire, and the 
harlot's wiles, in the description of the young man's 
temptation and ruin in the seventh chapter of the Pro- 
verbs ! And nothing is so likely to guard the heart 
against the love of the world, as the fate of the young 
man, who, after the most promising appearances of 
regard and submission to the Saviour, went away from 
him sorrowful, because he had great possessions, which 
he was unwilling to relinquish, at the call of Jesus, 
for treasures in heaven. 1 Many of the young have 
been kept 'from ruin, by fixing their minds on such 
passages in the hour of temptation, and have blessed 
them as the friendly warnings that saved them, when 
other monitors were won to the tempter's side, or were 
hushed to silence. 

4. In the Scriptures the young will find the best 
consolation under the disappointments and sorrows in- 
cident to early life. 

Let not the young imagine that it is only in middle 
hfe or in old age, that man meets with sorrow, that 
the gloom of affliction is reserved for the evening of 
existence, and that for its morning the melody of joy 
and unclouded brightness are destined. These are 
the vain conceits of ignorance and folly. Disease 
may attack you ; the pursuits in which you promise 
yourselves felicity and success, may prove embarras- 
sing and ruinous ; your companions may deal treach- 
erously with you, your kindest relatives may be torn 
from you by death, and, seduced into vice by the art- 



* Mark x. 21, 22. 



SERM. XII. THE SCRIPTURES RECOMMENDED. 219 

ful enticements of sinners, you may feel the agoies of 
remorse and guilty fear. 

In such circumstances, the word of God alone can 
give you consolation. Consult the Scriptures, and 
they will tell you that our heavenly Master " chas- 
tens us for our profit ; that it is good for a man that he 
bear the yoke in his youth ; that Jehovah is the or- 
phan's stay that Jesus was betrayed by false friends 
to sanctify that calamity to us ; and that the returning 
prodigal shall receive the kindest welcome from the 
Father of mercies. Listen not, my young friends, to 
those who tell you that you will find more effectual re- 
lief from sorrow in jovial excesses, or in infidel specu- 
lation. By these, serious emotion will be suppressed, 
and grief will be succeeded by the obduracy of a re- 
probate mind, and in the world to come by the horrors 
of eternal despair. 

Happy is it when the weeping eyes of the young are 
directed to the Scriptures. Their tears may still flow* 
but a hand is stretched from heaven that wipes them 
away, and an influence is felt which at length settles 
the bursting heart in resignation and peace. When 
such young persons recover their former cheerfulness, 
it is guarded by that sobriety and humility which the 
Bible has taught them in sorrow, and which, while they 
secure its permanence, diminish not in the least its 
power to exhilarate. 

5. A proper acquaintance with the Scriptures will 
preserve the young from the erroneous opinions which 
are so common in the world. 

Such opinions will be set before the young in va- 
rious forms. In many circles there are scoffers at 
things sacred, and in various books written on subjects 
foreign to religion, assaults are made on some of its 
doctrines, precepts, or facts. These cavils are set 



£20 EARLY ACQUAINTANCE WITH SERM. XII. 

forth with all the allurements which wit or elegance of 
language can give them ; and they frequently make a 
strong impression on the young, who have not pro- 
perly studied the Scriptures. But he who knows his 
Bible, Will find no difficulty in repelling these cavils, 
by explaining the obscurities of one place by the clearer 
statements of another. He will be able to exhibit 
those internal evidences of its divinity, which rise so 
clearly before a serious reader, in such a way as to put 
infidel abuse to silence. He will perceive in its views 
of the Divine character, the purity of its laws, the ex- 
ample of its Author, its prospects of futurity, and its 
admirable adaptation to our state and circumstances, 
the most satisfying evidences of a Divine origin. 
Those who are acquainted with the attainments and 
the manners of infidel young men, must be aware that 
their unbelief is the result of ignorance, of a presump- 
tion that disdains to think as others have done, or of a 
determination to indulge their sensual passions unfet- 
tered by the restraints which religion imposes. — A 
proper acquaintance with the Scriptures will preserve 
the young from those errors which are founded on 
a few insulated texts, and on passages detached from 
what precedes or follows them. They will try every 
opinion by its accordance with the grand desftgn of 
revelation, and by referring to the various passages in 
which a doctrine occurs, they will feel how deeply 
it is founded in the oracles of truth. 

When we think on the pernicious influence of infidel 
and heretical principles on the virtue and the happiness 
of men, and on the swift destruction which they bring 
on those who maintain and promote them, we see that 
it is, of the utmost importance that the young should 
be kept from the " instruction that causeth to err from 
the words of knowledge." 



SERM. XII. THE SCRIPTURES RECOMMENDED. 221 

Finally, An early knowledge of the Scriptures may 
be of the greatest use to you in your future life. 

You are careful to secure friends whose favour may 
be of service to you ; and the maxims by which others 
have successfully guided their affairs, you wish to know 
and to remember ; but the lessons of the Bible will be 
your best directors, and the Spirit of truth by whom 
its writers were moved, will lead you in the w r ays of 
peace. Amid difficulties that stagger others, you will 
find the path of wisdom. Arnid temptations that over- 
power others, you will be guided to the means of con- 
quest, or the way of escape. Amid the hurry of world- 
ly business, the recollections of Scripture will suggest 
to you many pious thoughts ; and should you live to 
old age, they will comfort you in its evil days. The 
old quickly forget what they read or hear ; many of 
them, from the decay of their sight, are unable to search 
the Scriptures ; and some are so solitary, that they have 
none to come and read portions of them beside them ; 
but the passages in which they delighted when they 
were^ young, and which took a firm hold of their hearts 
at the period when the powers of attention and memory 
are vigorous, now rise to their view, and speak many 
a word in season to the weary soul. The word of God 
supports the steps when " the keepers of the house 
tremble," and extends and brightens the vision of the 
soul, " when they that look out at the windows are 
darkened." In the evening of old age, where the Bible 
is unknown, we see the blackness of darkness collect* 
ing ; but where the truth has been received in love 5 
we behold a sun pursuing his course that shall never 
go down. 

Should death arrest the course of the young, the Bi- 
ble will teach them how to die. We have heard of 
the young, whose Bibles lay beside them on their .sick ? 



EARLY ACQUAINTANCE WITH 



SERM. XII 



bed pillow, whose last efforts were employed to read 
them, and who carefully marked the passages that 
animated their hope, and described the behaviour 
which they wished the friends that survived them to 
exhibit. Such was the conduct of Michael Bruce, a 
young man distinguished by the tenderness and the de- 
votion of his heart, as well as by the beauty of his ge- 
nius, and of whom it is but justice to say, that no ad- 
mirers of his poetry ever needed to heave a sigh over 
the vices of his character. After finishing his admira- 
ble poem on the Spring, he resigned all his poetical 
studies for the sacred volume, which was ever in his 
hand, or within his reach. He read it much on his 
bed of languishing ; and after he died, while his friends 
were attiring his corpse for the grave, his Bible was 
found lying at his head, with a number of leaves fold- 
ed down, with their points to that text, " Weep not for 
the dead," 2 as a caution to his parents not to sorrow for 
him as those that have no hope. 

I shall now give some directions to assist you in 
gaining a due knowledge of the Scriptures. 

1. Read them frequently. It is stated of the Be- 
reans, that they searched the Scriptures daily ; 5 and 
let there not be one day in your lives, in which a por- 
tion of the Bible is not read by you. Think not that, 
by reading it frequently, it will become insipid and dis- 
gusting, as you have felt has been the case with books 
that once charmed you. To the enlightened mind, the 
Bible always presents something new. We may say of 
this volume, what can be said of no other in the same 
degree, that it is the delight of age and of youth, and 



2 Jer. xxii 10. 



3 Acts xvii. 11. 



SERM. XII. THE SCRIPTURES RECOMMENDED. 225 

that they who know it best ascribe to it the highest va- 
lue. 

Let a certain portion of the day be devoted to this 
exercise, and never occupy that time otherwise, unless 
you are called to do so by the most urgent necessity. 
When your parents ask you to read a chapter to them, 
regard this not as a task, but as a privilege. There are 
perhaps some aged and neglected poor beside you, whose 
eyes are dim, and to whom it is an act of kind atten- 
tion to read occasionally even a single chapter. Some of 
them have complained, that there was none that would 
perform to them this office of Christian love. Your hearts 
are saying, I will go cheerfully. Go in the name of the 
Lord ; but take heed lest you be weary in well doing. 
It is a gratifying sight to behold little boys or girls go- 
ing with their Bible under their arm to the abode of ne- 
glected poverty. The eye of the aged glistens as they 
enter, and their heart bids them welcome. As the 
words of eternal life are read, the consolation which 
they give, and the remarks which are made to illustrate 
and to impress their lessons, make the youthful com- 
forters feel that it is good for them to be here. The 
value of the Bible is more strongly felt than ever, and 
the resolution is formed of giving in future more earnest 
heed to its contents. 

The practice of reading the Scriptures in schools, so 
common at former periods, is now in various places 
discontinued. I have never heard any proper reason 
assigned for this change. There is a power in the sen- 
timents and in the language of the word of God, which 
no other book can possess ; and the reading of it gives 
the teacher an opportunity of directing the minds of his 
pupils to the dictates of eternal wisdom. If the Bible 
is not read at school, children who never see it opened 
at home, must grow up in total ignorance of it. Should 

5 



224 



EARLY ACQUAINTANCE WITH SERM. XII. 



any at school discover irreverence or levity while the 
Bible is read, it may be easily repressed by the teach- 
er, who possesses the prudence and the gravity w 7 hich 
his station demands. 

2. Study the Scriptures with attention. Let not the 
reading of the Bible be an empty form. Some think 
their duty is discharged when the chapter is read, though 
they have paid no proper attention to a single verse, 
though no emotion has been excited during the perusal* 
and though they recollect not one sentiment or expres- 
sion. They that read without care, read without pro- 
fit. Very opposite is the manner of reading enjoined 
upon us. " Set your hearts/' said Moses, " unto all 
the words which I testify among you this day ; for it 
is not a vain thing for you, for it is your life." 4 " If 
thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for 
understanding ; if thou seekest for her as for silver, and 
searchest for her as hid treasure, then thou shalt find 
the fear of the Lord, and understand the judgment of 
thy God." 5 With what care does a man study the 
charter that secures to him a valuable estate, and how 
eagerly does he mark every clause, to find if there is 
any phrase that may encourage opposition to his claim ! 
A man about to undertake a long and perilous journey, 
and who has obtained from some kind friend a chart of 
the road, examines it most minutely, and marks every 
winding of the path. And thus should we take heed 
to that sure word of prophecy with which God hath fa- 
voured us, as ee to a light that shineth in a dark place^ 
till the day dawn, and the day star arise in our hearts." 6 
Into these things which the Bible presents to our atten- 
tion, the angels desire to look ; and if they consider 
them as deserving their eager study, shall we slight 

4 Dsut. xxxii. 46^ 47. s Pro?, ii. 3— 5. 6 2 Pet. i. 19 



SERM. XII. THE SCRIPTURES RECOMMENDED. %25 

them ? Xet the eagerness with which the votary of 
science pores over its volumes, or gazes for hours on 
the face of the sky, watching the appearance and move- 
ments of the planets, make us ashamed of our careless 
study of the sacred oracles. 

3. Employ every proper mean to obtain aid and suc- 
cess in this stud} r . There are many valuable exposi- 
tions of Scripture, which will be read with much ad- 
vantage, especially those of them which are of a prac- 
tical cast. The wish to purchase books may be indul- 
ged by some to a degree which their circumstances do 
not warrant ; but, in the most of cases, it devotes to 
a useful purpose what might be applied in a way which 
wisdom will not justify. A judicious and practical ex- 
position of the Scriptures may often be obtained in such 
sl gradual manner, that the expence of it is never felt. 
Happy is that family in which religious books are re- 
garded as the sources of their best enjoyments. While 
the libraries of the rich and the great are often collect- 
ed for the purposes of ostentation, the books in the 
corner of the labourer's dwelling attest his love of wis- 
dom, and the degree to which he prefers the acquisi- 
tion of knowledge to the satisfying of the flesh. 

Attend with punctuality on the ministry of the word. 
The expounding of the Scriptures is a regular part of 
the public service of our churches on the Lord's day, 
and has been considered as one great cause of that high 
degree of religious information which distinguishes the 
people of Scotland. Beware of the indolence which leads 
some to loiter at home in the forenoon of the Sabbath, and 
to satisfy themselves with hearing the sermon in the after- 
noon. Follow the exposition from verse to verse, and 
frequently meditate through the "week on the passage 
you heard explained in the sanctuary, and endeavour 
to promote its influence on your hearts. Suffer no world* 



226 EARLY ACQUAINTANCE WITH SERM. X9U 

ly cares, and no incidents whatever, to efface the truths 
of God from your memories. Some of them ma}' be 
more agreeable objects of reflection than others : but 
those which you are tempted to banish as likely to give 
you pain, may be most necessary for caution and in- 
struction in righteousness. 

Attend carefully to the illustrations of Scripture in 
sermons, and let those discourses be most interesting 
to you, in which the preacher treats the word of God 
as his authority for his statements, and as the favour- 
ite source from which he derives solemnity, variety and 
beauty to his compositions. Beware of vain thoughts, 
and of a wandering eye, while hearing the word ; and 
never indulge yourselves in sleep in the house of God. 
This is a practice peculiarly shameful at your age ; and 
in the calamity that befel the young man Eutychus, 
while in a deep sleep during Paul's sermon, God testi- 
fied his displeasure against it, and calls on you to hear 
with solemn attention. 7 By this habit the devil is gra- 
tified, the most precious seasons of salvation are lost, 
and the grossest contempt is poured on the messages 
of heaven. Pray for the illumination of the Holy Spi- 
rit. Without his influence the Bible will be a sealed 
book to you, and you can have no saving knowledge of 
its contents. It is on this book that the Holy Ghost 
delights to shine. Reflect on the various promises of 
the Spirit which Christ hath given you, and let these 
be your arguments in prayer for his influences. " The 
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, shall teach you 
all things, and bring all things to your remembrance 
. which I have said to you." 8 

Conversation with each other on the meaning and the 
influence of the Scriptures, will be highly useful. If 



7 Acts xx. 9. 



s John xiv. 20. 



sM>f. Xli. THE SCRIPTURES RECOMMENDED. 227 

this is done with modesty and prudence, it will produce 
no unfavourable impression on any candid mind against 
you. Many of the young can talk with the utmost flu* 
ency of the fashionable amusements and the favourite 
productions of the age ; and while they do this, no in- 
dignant frown warns them that the subject is disagreea- 
able ; and yet they cannot speak of the word of God, 
without the risk of being subjected to the most odious 
imputations. This is the reproach of Christ ; and if 
you have not brought the ridicule of the world upon 
yourselves, by zeal without knowledge, and earnest- 
ness disfigured by a censorious and domineering tern* 
per, you may rejoice " that you are counted worthy to 
suffer shame for the sake of Jesus." There are many 
occasions when the young may converse together on se* 
rious topics, without the fear of being hooted and mis- 
represented by ungodly men ; and let these be careful- 
ly improved. " A word spoken in season is like apples 
of gold in pictures of silver/' 9 

4. In order to your attaining a proper knowledge of 
the Scriptures, there are certain dispositions and prin- 
ciples that must be implanted and cultivated. The 
Scriptures must be received, not as the word of men, 
but as the word of God. Unless We believe their di- 
vine inspiration, we cannot study them as Christians. 
It is faith that discovers their treasures of wisdom, and 
contemplates in them the glory, the purposes, and 
the will of their Author. 

We must love the Bible. Without this the study of 
it will soon be abandoned, or continued without inte- 
rest. You have heard in what terms of affection the 
wisest and the best of men have spoken of this volume ; 
and if it has been profaned and vilified by the infidel 



* Pi'OV. XXV. II. 



228 



EARLY ACQUAINTANCE WITH SERM. XII. 



scorner, you know that the abuse of such men is a tri- 
bute to its purity. The little books that amused your 
childhood you now put away, along with ©ther childish 
things ; but the word of God will, as reason opens, 
appear more and more deserving ofyour regard. Give 
not the least countenance to the application of texts of 
Scripture for the purposes of merriment. Your laughter 
may encourage a practice which ought to be abhorred 
for its impiety, and which is only resorted to by the 
most despicable witlings. 

Submit your understandings and your hearts to all 
the statements of Scripture. Come not to the perusal 
of them with opinions which you are determined to 
find sanctioned there, or with passions which you are 
resolved to indulge, in spite of all their threatenings ; 
but let this be the temper of your hearts, " All that 
the Lord shall speak we will do, and be obedient." 

Study the Scriptures with a view to learn your duty, 
and with care to practise it. Those who study religion 
with a view to be admired for their knowledge, and 
who imagine that the extent of their information, of 
the strictness of their orthodoxy, will atone for the mo- 
ral defects of their conduct, are often given up either 
to strong delusions, or to destructive lusts ; but " if 
any man do his will, he shall know his doctrine." 10 
Where the culture of the heart accompanies the expan- 
sion of the understanding, and where the Bible is made 
not only the guide of our opinions, but of our conduct, 
we give to the word of God its due honour, and have 
reason to expect that it will make us wise to salvation. 

Beware of any course of reading which may produce 
in you a disrelish of the Scriptures, The tales of fic- 
tion, which are poured forth in such vast numbers from 



10 John vii. 17. 



SERM. XIII. THE SCRIPTURES RECOMMENDED. 22§ 

the press, find a powerful party of their readers among 
the young. But to a taste vitiated by these, the sim- 
plicity of truth will have no charms ; and an inexpe- 
rienced mind, judging of the world by their false co- 
lourings, prepares for itself the bitterest mortifications. 
They may be distinguished by tenderness of sentiment, 
luxuriance of imagination, and beauty of language ; 
but these only establish their influence over the suscep- 
tible heart, and maintain more firmly their delusive as- 
sociations there. It will be found, that those who are 
best acquainted with works of this description have 
little delight in the Scriptures, make the poorest figure, 
and taste the least enjoyment amid the sober realities 
of life. But if ye know the truth, it will make you 
wise, and free, and happy for ever. 

Let those in the mid-time of their days be assured, 
that the knowledge of the Scriptures will be most use-* 
ful to them. There is no book so admirably adapted 
to keep heaven in your view, in the midst of your 
worldly pursuits. It will shew you how persons with a 
much busier and more weighty charge than you, have 
devoted a portion of their time daily to the reading of 
the Scriptures ; and it presents to you several awful in* 
stances of the power of a worldly spirit, and of the 
wickedness to which it leads. 

Take a passage of Scripture with you, for the purpose 
of meditation, to your labour and to your pillow. It 
will gladden the period of toil ; it will speak to you in 
the solitude and silence of the night, and sanctify the 
workings of fancy in your slumbers. Seek for an an- 
swer to all the temptations of Satan in the word of 
God ; and let it be your counsellor in all your straits. 
Pay an undeviating regard to all the precepts of Scrip- 
ture ; and be zealous in the defence, and in the spread 



i 



032 EARLY ACQUAINTANCE WITH SERM, XII. 

of the truth. Could you live and die without the Bi- 
ble ? The question shocks you ; but oh ! how many 
thus live and thus die ! 

Finally, let the aged continue in Christ's word. It 
has been with emotions of veneration and delight that 
this book has been seen in the hands of the aged, by 
their friends who went to visit them, and that they have 
beheld them rejoicing in God's word, as they that find 
great spoil. Aged ministers, when ready to be offered 
up, have laid aside the books whose elaborate discus- 
sions they once studied with eagerness, and devoted all 
the time in which they could see to read, to the Scrip- 
tures. They have felt them sweet to their hearts as in 
the days of youth ; and texts which were their theme 
in the pulpit, and their solace in all their toils, now 
cheer their solitude, alleviate their pains, and shed over 
the grave a joyful light. 

When detained from religious worship, let the Bible 
be your study all the day. Encourage the young con- 
nected with you to repeat to you the passages of Scrip- 
ture illustrated in the sanctuary, and to state to you all 
that they remember of what was S2id. This will form 
a most useful habit in them, and be a great refresh- 
ment to you. 

Let it be your care to read as frequently the injunc- 
tions of Scripture to the old, as its promises ; and be 
as desirous to cultivate the temper which the word re- 
commends, as to enjoy the consolation which it offers. 
You have the strongest reasons to value the Bible; for 
it has shed a dignity around old age, that secures for 
it respect and affection. While, in some heathen coun- 
tries, the aged are left to pine in want and neglect, or 
are exposed to destruction by the children who should 
have been their support in frailty, Christianity calls 
around them the soothing care of love. 
1 



SERM. XII. THE SCRIPTURES RECOMMENDED. 231 

You hear of the eagerness of the young to contribute 
to the circulation of the Scriptures ; how they sacrifice 
indulgences dear to youth, that they may bestow their 
money for this purpose. And shall youth triumph over 
the world, and age be its slave ? Shall your failing 
senses be the dupes of its vanity ? It is not much that 
you now require, and a little may be spared for the ho- 
nour of God. You are leaving ail your worldly sub- 
stance behind you ; and shall no injunction be given 
by you, that any part of it should be appropriated to 
the work of Christ ? While you leave the Bible, give 
some abiding testimony of your estimation of it ; and 
in quitting this earth, shew that you do it with the 
wish that it may be filled with the knowledge of the 
Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Let the Bible be the 
last object that you resign on earth ; Jet your hearts 
cleave to it while the final grasp of friendship is given ; 
and when you leave it, let it be for the immediate pre-* 
sence of Him who is your eternal light and glory. 



232 



EARLY OBSERVANCE OF THE SERM. XIII. 



SERMON XIII. 



THE EARLY OBSERVANCE OF THE LORD S SUPPER 
RECOMMENDED. 



Luke ii. 41 — 43. 
" Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast .of 
the passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went 
up to J erusalem after the custom of the feast. And when 
they had fulfilled the days, as they returned the child Jesus 
tarried behind in Jerusalem." 

I 

The actions of one of twelve years of age are seldom 
deemed worthy of record. The celebrity of a. man's 
after life may lead some anxiously to inquire what were 
the habits of his childhood, and what early indications 
he gave of that peculiar cast of genius and temper by 
which he w r as afterwards distinguished ; but, in gene* 
ral, the transactions of this period are thought inte- 
resting only to a parent's heart. The artless fondness 
of the young ; their vivacity, which no care or sorrow 
hath yet checked ; and their proficiency in useful know- 
ledge, excite in the minds of their parents many a 
pleasing reflection, and many a vain hope, which it 
would be foolish to expect that others would share. 

How different was the case with him to whom the 
text refers ! The circumstances of his early life are- 



SERMf. XIII. LORD'S SUPPER RECOMMENDED. 



instructive to all, from the wisdom and piety which' 
they indicated, from .the anticipations which they ex- 
cited, and from the example which they exhibit. 

The text shews us the early respect which Jesus paid 
to the Jewish passover. At twelve years of age, ac- 
cording to the Jewish maxims, the young came under 
the yoke of the law ; and the parents of Jesus took him 
with them to Jerusalem, to observe that feast which 
called up so many interesting recollections in the minds 
of the Jews. Christ cheerfully accompanied them, that 
he might set before the young a pattern of devout at- 
tendance on the various ordinances of divine worship,, 
and lead them to the Lord's Supper, betwixt which and 
the passover there is a striking resemblance. While 
children of his age would have been occupied with the 
novel objects presented to them, and filled with gay 
expectations of the wonders which they were to see ; 
while they would have become dispirited and fretful by 
the toils of the journey, and would, from the levity b§ 
their hearts, have soon become weary of the services 
of religion, Jesus was intent, during the whole scene, 
on his Father's business, and remained a day behind, 
when the solemnity was over, eagerly engaged in re- 
ceiving and communicating knowledge. 

By the conduct of Jesus on this occasion I wish to 
excite you to an early and pious observance of that or*r 
dinance, in which a redemption is commemorated infi- 
nitely more glorious and wonderful than the deliver- 
ance from Egypt, and which has been found one of the 
best means of establishing the heart in grace, and 
strengthening those feelings and purposes which give 
to life enjoyment and utility. 

In the following discourse, I shall recommend aiv 
early observance of the Lord's Supper ; and point 



234t EARLY OBSERVANCE OF THE SERM. XIXC* 

I out the spirit in which the young ought to approach to 
it. 

1. In recommending the observance of this ordi- 
nance to the young, I wish them to consider, in the 
first place, that the arguments by which others are 
called to keep this feast, apply to them with peculiar 
force. The command of Jesus, " Do this in remem- 
brance of me," 1 none can disregard with impunity. 
It is a precept which claims our obedience from the 
majesty of his character, and from the tenderness of 
his love, and makes the most powerful appeal to the 
conscience, and to the heart. You are now at a pe- 
riod of life in which you are accustomed to regulate 
your conduct by the injunctions of your parents and 
friends, but their claims to your submission can neve? 
be compared with his who died to save, and who lives 
to bless you. Some of you have received parting 
charges from your parents. When I speak of these, 
you feel as you did when their hand grasped yours for 
the last time, and when a father's voice spoke to you 
from the side of the grave ; the injunctions of that 
solemn period are sacred to you, and no prospect of 
interest or pleasure could induce you to disregard them. 
But it was in an hour far more solemn that Jesus ap- 
pointed this ordinance to be observed by his followers, 
even in that hour when, after a life occupied by labours 
of mercy, he was about to pour out his soul unto 
death ; and he was not prompted to issue this precept 
by the pleasure he would derive from the grateful re- 
membrance of his people, but by the edification and 
comfort which it would yield to his disciples. 

Consider also that the scenes which were exhibited. 



\ I Cor. xi. £4. 



SERM. XIII. LORD*S SUPPER RECOMMENDED. 235 

and the blessings which were obtained when Christ 
died, have far stronger claims on your admiration and 
gratitude, than the objects and events in which you 
take such peculiar interest. You celebrate with pecu- 
liar ardour the triumphs of the hero, and when honours 
are paid to the benefactors or ornaments of their coun- 
try, your voice is loudest in the shout of applause; 
your hearts throb most strongly with the impulse of 
admiration, and your fervid emotions are not checked 
by the dark reflections of age. And shall you take no 
part in the homage paid to the Saviour of the world? 
Shall victories which angels consider as their brightest 
theme of praise, and blessings which expand into eter- 
nity, receive from you no public mark of estimation, 
and no tribute which says that they live in your 
hearts ? The honours paid to the dead are poured 
over the unconscious dust, and often foster the vain- 
glory of the living ; but Jesus lives to receive the ho- 
mage of his disciples, and the paying of it humbles 
while it gratifies the heart. 

2. The service to which I now call you is a pleasing 
one. You are convinced, I trust, that the only hap- 
piness that is worthy of the name, arises from the 
state and the dispositions of the heart, and that every 
wise man must despise those who seek for no enjoy- 
ment but what the indulgence of the bodily appetites 
yields. You have felt a sweet satisfaction in acts of 
filial duty, in the offices of friendship, and in the pur- 
suit of knowledge, but the exercises and emotions of 
religion yield the highest delight of which we are 
susceptible, from the excellence of their objects, and 
from their influence; and it is at a communion table 
that these objects are seen in all their glory, and felt 
in all their power, over the conscience and the heart. 

It is in this ordinance that the character of Christ is 



236 EARLY OBSERVANCE OF THE SERM. Xlffe 

seen in its brightest excellencies ; and if the contem- 
plation of the virtues of the good around you gives 
pleasure to a pure heart, what must not such a heart 
feel in surveying patience silent in unexampled suffer- 
ing, faith unshaken by all the Almighty's terrors, and 
love that passeth knowledge. 

Here you see the victories gained by Him in the 
hour and power of darkness, the sufficiency and extent 
of the great atonement, every promise sealed that can 
excite hope, and every blessing procured necessary to 
your happiness. Here mingling with angels in the 
admiring contemplation of redeeming grace, good men 
can say what they cannot, " He loved me, and gave 
himself for me," and feel that they have an interest in 
the glories of the Lamb that was slain, superior to 
theirs. 

Here, regarding your fellow-worshippers as objects- 
of the same love with you, your benevolent feelings 
will be excited and gratified, and those wishes and 
purposes will be formed which lead to the best enjoy- 
ments, and to the happiest results of charity. It is 
here that heaven is anticipated in the purest of its rap- 
tures, and in the ardour of its praises to God and to 
the Lamb. And as Jesus feels peculiar complacency 
in the pious emotions of religious youth> he often 
makes this known at his table in the most delightful 
manner. Ask those who have feared the Lord from 
their youth, and they will tell you that the commu- 
nion of their early days was the sweetest they ever 
enjoyed ; that no scene of gladness in which they af- 
terwards mingled, interested their hearts like this; 
and that the remembrance of it has soothed them 
amidst the most painful bereavements. If these truths 
have on you their proper influence, you will now adopt 



SERM. X1H. LORD'S SUPPER RECOMMENDED. 237 

the language of the Psalmist, <( I will go to the altar of 
God, to God my exceeding joy." 2 

S. From the devout observance of this ordinance, 
you will derive the most important advantages. 
Though no benefit could result to us from the per- 
formance of our duty, yet the relations in which we 
stand to the great Lord of all, and gratitude for what 
he hath already done for us, would require us readily 
to obey him ; but we feel the impulse to obedience 
strengthened, when we are conscious that it will con- 
tribute materially to our good. The God who knows 
our frame, excites us to his service by every motive 
adapted to stimulate us ; and while religion repro- 
bates the selfishness that looks only to its 'own 'ad van* 
tage, it gives no countenance to that extravagant en* 
thusiasm which deems it unworthy of one born from 
above to be solicitous about his own interests, and a 
sacrifice of the lofty and generous tendencies of Chris- 
tianity to the base and sordid principles of our nature. 
While the Gospel calls on us to do all to the glory of 
God, and to live to him that died for us, it enjoins us 
to lay up a good foundation for ourselves against the 
time to come, and assures us that godliness is profita- 
ble unto all things. 

Do you ask me what benefits you will derive from 
this ordinance ? It will confirm your faith in the Gos- 
pel, by shewing it sealed in the blood of its Author, 
and thus keep you from being perplexed by the so- 
phistry of infidels, or moved by their scorn. It will 
strengthen virtuous resolution, and invigorate all those 
pious affections which are the glory of our nature. It 
will prompt you to the imitation of the virtues of our 
Lord's character, and contribute to keep in your view 



* Psal. xOiii. 4. 



238 EARLY OBSERVANCE OF THE SERM. XHI. 

those excitements to holiness which his last hour so 
strongly presents. The pledges given to the Re- 
deemer in this ordinance, } 7 our vows heard by heaven 
and earth, and the affecting displays of the evil of sin 
made before you, will suggest arguments against yield- 
ing to temptation, which no sophistry can pretend to 
answer, and which will make even the appearance of 
wickedness the object of your abhorrence. 

Consider also, that by thus joining yourselves to 
the Lord, you will acquire an interest in the hearts, 
the care, and the prayers of the church. Saints will 
feel a brother's solicitude for your welfare ; and sacri- 
fices and efforts in your behalf from which the friend- 
ship of the world would shrink, they will cheerfully 
make for the sake of their Saviour and yours. Your 
example may incline others to encompass God's altar, 
and may put to silence the ignorance of those who 
talk of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper as a device 
of superstition, which may have its use in calming the 
minds, and bearing up the spirits of the dying, but 
which can have no practical influence on the conduct 
of life. 

4. It is to you that the church looks for confessorsr 
of Christ's name, when the present generation shall 
be gathered to their fathers. You see many at the 
table of the Lord, whose advanced age suggests that 
in a few days they shall go the way whence they shall 
not return. Those disciples who are now most active 
in the service of the Lord Jesus, will soon droop 
through infirmity, or be removed ere they come to 
hoary hairs, and sad will be their fears, if they see 
not the young coming to the solemn feasts, that where 
the death of Christ has been remembered with so 
much affection, it will soon be utterly disregarded, and 
that the form and the power of godliness are passing- 



SERM. XIII. LORD'S SUPPER RECOMMENDED. £$9 

away. The abolition of this ordinance would be 
quickly followed by the subversion of all the institu- 
tions of religion ; impiety and licentiousness reigning 
uncontrolled, would render society a scene of misery 
and crimes ; and the vengeance of heaven called forth 
by such abominable and daring excesses, would soon 
sweep from the face of the earth those who had trod- 
den under foot the Son of God, and done despite to 
the Spirit of grace. But delightful will be the hopes 
of the good, when they see the young " asking the 
way to Zion," and yielding themselves to the Lord. 
They will rejoice in the thought, that race unto race 
shall serve Jesus where they have done it, remember* 
ing his name, glorying in his cross, and happy in his 
love ; that Christian principles and virtues, cherished 
by this ordinance, will extend their influence over all 
the scenes of life ; and that when objects and events 
now most interesting to the worldly mind are for- 
gotten, and systems opposite to the Gospel shall pass 
away in spite of all their pompous pretensions to 
universal influence and lasting fame, the name of 
Jesus shall endure for ever. 

I may also state to you how the example of Jesus 
should influence you to this service. In the young, 
the propensity to imitation is most apparent, and 
whatever seems to them worthy of being followed, 
they press after with the greatest ardour. And shall 
you not follow Jesus in his observance of divine insti- 
tutions ? In vain will you call him Lord, Lord, if 
you act not as he did. What other parts of his ex- 
ample can you be expected to follow from a pure con- 
science, if you imitate not this ? He took a long and 
toilsome journey to attend on this passover, but small 
is the sacrifice of ease or time required from you in 



£40 EARLY OBSERVANCE OF THE SERM. XIII. 

keeping the Christian feast. You are eager to follow 
the steps of persons who are eminent for splendid suo 
cesse s in qualities and pursuits which the world ad- 
mires, but the example of Christ is that of him who 
is the first in excellence and glory. Think what an 
honour it will be to you, to be found in early life ac- 
tuated by the Spirit, and treading in the steps of 
Jesus. 

Consider how gratifying your observance of this or- 
dinance will be to your parents. Joseph and Mary 
saw with the strongest interest Jesus attending with 
them on this sacred rite, and parents, by every suita- 
ble argument, should urge their children to follow 
them to the Lord's table in the spirit of piety, and 
let no false delicacy, and no mistaken idea that this 
lies not within the bounds of parental counsel, keep 
them silent on this topic, for to leave them behind 
must be a pang to their hearts. To your parents 
it will be most delightful to see you sitting with 
them under the Redeemer's shadow, and partaking 
with them of the cup of blessing. They witness with 
anxiety and fear the efforts that are made to engage 
you in clubs and associations, which though they bear 
specious names, and aim at objects apparently harm- 
less or benevolent, yet throw you among the idle, the 
unprincipled, and the dissolute ; but they will rejoice 
in your connecting yourselves with the church, as a 
proof of the influence of wisdom and piety over you, 
and as a pledge that the son of their vows will not be 
the companion of fools. 

I conclude this part of the subject by stating, that 
as God threatened that the man who neglected the 
passover, " should be cut off from his people, because 
he brought not the offering of the Lord in his ap- 



SERM. XIII. LORD'S SUPPER RECOMMENDED. Ml 

pointed season, and should bear his sin," 3 they can- 
not be guiltless nor safe who do not keep the Chris- 
tian feast. Such may be punished by temporal ca« 
lamities, and by their being abandoned to a reprobate 
mind, and they shall at last be destroyed without re- 
medy, if they persist in their disregard of the Re- 
deemer's authority and grace. 

But some scruples and objections are urged by the 
young, when they are called to engage in this ordi- 
nance, which it may be proper to answer. 

Some plead they are too young to go to the Lord's 
table. It is certain that none should be admitted to 
this ordinance, but those who understand its nature 
and design, and are acquainted with their duties and 
obligations as rational and immortal beings. The 
practice of- infant communion which once prevailed, 
was suggested by the spirit of superstition. This ser- 
vice can neither be acceptable to God, nor useful to 
us, unless it be the worship of an enlightened un- 
derstanding, as well as of a fervid heart. We are 
far from insinuating that the age at which Jesus 
went up to keep the passover is that at which the 
young should partake of the Lord's Supper, for the 
Spirit of wisdom and grace was given him without 
measure; but this circumstance certainly intimates 
that in early life they should direct their hearts to seek 
God ; and if the dictates of conscience respecting this 
duty are then set at nought, every future impulse to it 
will be opposed by scruples as plausible. You approach 
to Him who will not despise the feeblest movements of 
religious principle, nor the humblest effort of the 
willing mind. The condescension with which he ac- 
cepted the hosannahs of children, shews you witn 



3 Numb. ix. 13. 
x 



24j2 early observance of the SERM. XIII. 

what kindness he will receive the tribute of pious af- 
fection from the young at his table. 

Some plead that this ordinance is neglected by per- 
sons advanced in life, and respected in the world. But 
can you prefer their example to that of our Lord? 
Whatever may be the estimate which the world forms 
of their character, the wise and good consider their 
disregard of this ordinance as a mournful defect in 
their conduct ; and if ever they are brought to pious 
reflection, their neglect of this sacrament, and the un- 
happy influence of their example, will fill them with 
deep regret. 

Others plead that they have seen persons, said to be 
of bad principles, or most immoral in their conduct, 
admitted to this ordinance, and that this has filled 
them with disgust. It is not likely that such abuses 
will often take place in a church that maintains a 
proper discipline ; and charity should lead you to 
conclude, that these rumours have been found either 
false, or much exaggerated. If they are true, remon- 
strate against the admission of such unworthy charac-» 
ters, and use your influence to prevent such profana- 
tion for the future ; and if you are exercised to godli- 
ness, the hypocrisy of others will not corrupt this 
ordinance to you, nor shall you be partakers of their 
plagues. 

The solemnity of this ordinance is urged by some 
to excuse their neglect of it. It is undoubtedly a ser- 
vice which requires reverence and godly fear, but we 
dishonour it by the tremors of a gloomy superstition. 
To the sincere but quaking heart, the Master of the 
feast thus speaks ; " Fear not ye, for I know that ye 
seek Jesus who was crucified." 4 On this table the 



4 Matth. xxviii. S. 



SERM. XIII. LORD S SUPPER RECOMMENDED. 243 

love of Christ spreads its blessings, the grace of God 
shines around it in all its riches, and a still small voice 
saith in the sweetest tones of mercy, " It is I, be not 
. afraid." 

Some plead that they are not qualified for this ordi- 
nance, that they have not that union to Christ, and 
those graces of the Spirit without which they cannot 
communicate worthily. Do you feel with regret and 
terror that such is your situation, and can you delay 
for one moment your application to him who is willing 
to give you the robe of righteousness, and to say to 
you, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost V 9 O remember 
that the temper and state which disqualifies you for 
the Lord's table, unfits you for heaven, In your pre- 
sent condition you are fit only for destruction, and to 
it the hand of death may drag you in your most 
thoughtless moments. It is by a pure heart, and by 
a living faith, that you will be prepared for this ordi- 
nance, and for the marriage supper of the Lamb. 

I may add that some have suggested that the obser- 
vance of this ordinance will debar them from many indi- 
gencies of which the young around them partake, and 
that every indiscretion into which they may fall, will 
be marked and censured with merciless severity. But 
adherence to Christ will keep you from no pleasure 
that wisdom sanctions. If the men of the world shall 
watch you with a jealous eye, this will lead you to a * 
circumspection in conduct most beneficial to yourselves. 
Should you be subjected to the insulting reflections of 
men, eager to expose your failings, you may take this 
comfort amidst the anguish of penitence, that your 
Redeemer will judge you in mercy. Think not that 
the law of God allows a laxity in morals to those who 
do not approach the Lord's table, or that this service 
binds on you heavier burdens than you would other- 



£44 EARLY OBSERVANCE OF THE SERM. XIII. 



wise be required to bear. Christ's yoke is easy, mid 
his burden is light, come then and take it upon you. 

I shall now, in the last place, state shortly the man- 
ner in which you should go up to this feast. 

You must observe it in faith. Had a Jew who con- 
sidered the deliverance from Egypt as an idle fable, 
observed the passover, he would have acted a most ir- 
rational part ; and their conduct is liable to a similar 
charge, who sit down at the Lord's table with no con- 
viction of the reality of those scenes which are there 
represented. Faith must behold in these symbols the 
sufferings that were endured, the blessings which were 
purchased, and the love that was shewn by a dying 
Saviour. It is not to his bodily sufferings that your 
faith must direct its chief attention, but to the wrath of 
God which was revealed from heaven, and to the 
deadly sorrow which overwhelmed his soul. If these 
are not contemplated, we overlook the brightest cha- 
racters of the cross. And while faith looks to a bleed- 
ing Redeemer, we must cordially accept of redemption 
through his blood, adore the wisdom and love which 
are displayed in this scheme of salvation, and fix our 
reliance for eternity on his obedience and sufferings. 
Unless this is the exercise of our souls in this ordi- 
nance, our faith goes no further than a cold assent, or 
a mere speculation. 

You must come to this ordinance in the spirit of 
gratitude and love. It is reasonable to suppose that 
the Jews observed the passover with grateful emotions 
to Him who had done so much for Israel ; and we 
should contemplate with the tenderest meltings the 
sufferings which Jesus endured to save us from hell ; 
the crown of thorns that pierced his temples, the 
scourge that tore the flesh from his back, the mockery 
that insulted his tortures, the nails which fixed him te 



SEA Me- XIII. LORD'S SUPPER RECOMMENDED. 245 

the cross, and the agony by which his heart was broken. 
Here is love unequalled, claiming our highest grati* 
tude. And shall we not love Him whose love to us 
was stronger than the pains of death and the sorrows 
of hell ? Consider how amiable Jesus appears in his 
dyed garments, in the soft lustre of meekness and sub- 
mission, and in that astonishing union which is here 
exhibited of the most splendid excellencies, with the 
affection of a son to a desolate mother, and the com- 
passion of a Saviour to a criminal perishing by his 
side. 

Remember also that your fellow Christians have one 
Lord and one hope with you. It is necessary that 
you lay aside every malignant feeling against any of 
them, and that you come forward in the spirit of Him 
who died for his enemies. " Go and be reconciled to 
your brother, and then come and offer your gift/'S 
And is it possible that you can hesitate ? Is it possi- 
ble that you can contemplate the God whom man had 
offended, reconciling the world to himself, and com- 
mending his love to us in the groans and the blood of 
his dear Son, and not relent ? In a scene where love 
shines in its brightest glories, ye ought to sacrifice 
before it all your prejudices and resentments, and yield 
up your whole hearts to the sweet emotions of charity 
and peace. If you enter into the spirit of this ordi- 
nance, you will rise from it inclined and determined to 
do good to your persecutors, and to bless them that 
curse you. The wine at the banquet of revenge is the 
poison of dragons and the cruel venom of asps, but at 
this feast of love compassions flow T , and its cup is the 
cup of salvation. Remember that prayer for his mur- 
derers was the first act of our Lord when nailed to his 



* Matth. v. 23, 24. 



246 EARLY OBSERVANCE OF THE SERM. XIII. 

crGss, and that none can expect to have their pardon 
sealed in this ordinance who are themselves unforgi- 
ving. 

Come to this ordinance with penitence. It is at the 
cross of Jesus that sin appears in all its malignity, for 
we see by what sufferings it could alone be expiated, 
and what wrath it deserved. He is sacrified as the 
willing substitute of the guilty. He groans in spirit, 
and he sinks in death, because the Lord laid on him 
the iniquity of us all. And can we see this and not be 
in bitterness ? And think not that such feelings of pe- 
nitence will mar the pleasure of the ordinance to yoir 
They will give the more exquisite delight to those as- 
surances of pardon, and to those views of the atonement 
which are obtained there. His hand tenderly wipes 
away the rising tear, and his voice comforts them that 
mourn in Zion. 

Come to this ordinance with strong desires after com- 
munion with God. It was to hold fellowship with his 
Father in the place where he had fixed his name, that 
Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and the tribes repaired to 
it to pray that God would have mercy on them as on 
their fathers in the days of old. Let it be your desire 
that you may see his power and glory as your fathers 
have seen it in the sanctuary, that you may be purified 
by his grace, and feel the blissful influence of his love. 
Such wishes are not -presumptuous, nor is the suppo- 
sed fulfilment of them the fancy of enthusiasm. " Truly 
our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son 
Christ Jesus." 6 

Finally, Come with firm resolutions of devoting 
yourselves to his service. It was by observing the 
passover that Jesus shewed his determination to fulfil 

« I John i. 3. 



SERM.^111. lord's supper recommended, ' 2i7 

all righteousness ; and in keeping the Christian feast it 
must be your stedfast purpose to renounce every im- 
pure imagination and wicked practice, to deny your- 
selves, to take up your cross, and to follow Christ in 
all the virtues of his character, in all the vicissitudes of 
your lot, and in every period of your future life. "Truly 
O Lord, I am thy servant ; I am thy servant, the 
son of thine handmaid, thou hast loosed my bonds." 7 
May God send down his light and his truth to lead 
you to his altar ; may he fill your hearts with every 
pious emotion, accept the kindness of your youth, and 
seal you to the day of redemption. 

To those who are in middle age, this subject sug- 
gests various lessons. If you have been accustomed 
to obser-ve this ordinance from your youth, beware of 
any decline in your zeal. If you think that any hurry 
of business will excuse you from going to the altar of 
God, the young will conclude that their apologies for 
neglecting it are as strong as yours. O let your con- 
duct shew the beneficial influence of this ordinance ! 
and give no reason for this bitter taunt, " What do ye 
more than others?" Take heed that you do not come 
to the Lord's table with hearts overcharged with the 
cares of this life ; but wisely improve the seasons of 
preparation for withdrawing your thoughts from world- 
ly objects, and fixing them on the cross of Christ, 
You are not slothful in business ; be fervent in spirit, 
serving the Lord. 

But there are some in middle life who have never 
yet observed this ordinance. You would be indignant 
at the charge of ingratitude and injustice to your fel- 
low creatures, and in this respect you may be guiltless ; 
but where is your gratitude to my Lord,, to whom you 

' Psal. cxvi. 1G» 



246 EARLY OBSERVANCE OF THE Sj&jtf. XIII. 

owe so much; and where is your justice in withhold- 
ing from him his due ? Amidst your worldly schemes 
and pursuits, you are unmindful of eternity ; and in 
an unexpected hour, death will come and take you from 
a scene which has engrossed your heart, and hurry you 
to that final doom, of which you have been so often 
warned in vain. Arise then, and yield yourselves to 
the Lord ; and believe that they that seek him shall 
want no good thing. 

To the aged, who have long encompassed God's al- 
tar, I must say, the time of your departure is at hand. 
At your next communion, the Redeemer may thus ad- 
dress you : " I will drink no more with you of the fruit 
of the vine till I drink it new with you in the kingdom 
of my Father." 8 The devout observance of this ordi- 
nance will so subdue the fear of death, and so strength- 
en your desire to be with Christ, that you will rise 
from it, as many of our fathers have done, saying, 
(< Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for 
mine eyes have seen thy salvation." 9 Shew ye that 
love to Christ doth not wax cold, and that in his ways 
you can still find pleasure. 

There are aged persons who have never kept this 
feast, and who, in a few days, must answer for a long 
course of obstinate disregard of this ordinance. Is not 
the thought dreadful ? O drive it not from your minds, 
but ponder it till you are led to Him who is able to save 
to the uttermost. Receive now his atonement, and 
submit to his sway ; and let your humble and penitent 
observance of his ordinances prove to those around you 
the triumphs of his grace ; and when, with trembling 
steps, you go to his table, and sit weeping there at his 
feet, say ye, with mixed emotions of shame and holy 



* Matt. xxvi. 29. * Luke ii. 29, 30. 



SERM. XIII. LORD'S SUPPER RECOMMENDED. 



249 



wonder, " I came at the eleventh hour, and I was not 
driven away." And may this be your grateful ac- 
knowledgment to the honour of his mercy, " Last of 
all, Christ was seen of me also, as of one born out of 
due time. " 10 

Now, may the cup of blessing be to all who shall 
partake of it, the communion of Christ's blood, and 
the bread which we break the communion of his body. 11 
Amen. 



w 1 Cor. xv. 8, 



11 1 Cor, x. 1& 



250 



THE YOUNG WARNED 



SERM. XIV. 



SERMON XIV. 

THE YOUNG WARNED AGAINST FOLLY. 



Fnov. xv. 21. 
" Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom.'" 

.Religion lifts up its voice, not only against every 
species of wickedness, but against every deviation from 
prudence and discretion. Men in general are disposed 
to speak of these m very indulgent terms; to regard 
them as calling for pity, not for blame ; and to inveigh 
against those who condemn them as stern moralists, 
whose ideas of propriety are too rigid for human na- 
ture. But such is the unhappy influence of these fol- 
lies on the virtue and happiness of human life, that 
they cannot be checked with too much zeal and care. 
To the children of folly its illusions appear not only 
harmless, but delightful. They pursue them with 
eagerness, and despise the sober-minded as dull gro- 
velling creatures, contracted in their views, devoid of 
taste and spirit, and low in their habits ; but wisdom 
secures tranquillity and honour, while folly never rea- 
lizes in its joys the hopes which it had excited, and 
their end is shame and anguish. 

It may be useful, especially to the young, to expose 



SERM. XIV. 



AGAINST FOLLY. 



£51 



to them, in their true light, the follies which are pleas- 
ins to the man without wisdom, but the end of which 
is heaviness. 

The follies against which I shall now warn you, may 
be classed under these three divisions Follies in 
speculation and fancy, in conversation, and in beha- 
viour. 

1. What are those follies in speculation and fancy, 
which are joy to the man without wisdom ? 

On this part of the subject, I may advert, in the 
Jirst place, to the absurd opinions set forth by extrava- 
gant theorists, who have exulted in them as solving 
difficulties in political and moral science, which have 
perplexed the wise for ages, and as leading to the most 
valuable improvements in the condition and character 
of man. The world in every age hath seen such vi- 
sionaries rising up, and drawing multitudes after them 
by the novelty of their schemes, or the boldness of 
their pretensions ; but when these have been examined 
by sober reason, they became objects of contempt. In 
studying the course of this vain deceit, and marking 
the wildness of its theories, and the acrimony of its 
disputes, we learn to what excesses the presumption of 
the carnal mind will lead, and how necessary it is for 
us to prove all things, and to hold fast that which is 
good. Let the young beware of being influenced by 
sarcastic reflections on old institutions, and of imagin- 
ing that their talents will be respected in proportion to 
the boldness and singularity of their opinions. Let 
them remember that every attachment to the views of 
former times is not prejudice, and that the boast of li- 
berality of sentiment is often the cant of the unprin- 
cipled, and let them judge of opinions, not by the 



3 



S5i 



THE YOU KG WARNED 



SERM. XI \\ 



names or professions of their abettors, but by their 
grounds and their tendency. 

Under this head, romantic imaginations maybe spe- 
cified, or all those gay expectations of prosperity and 
happiness which are suggested by a vain conceit of a 
man's own powers, by the dictates of a sanguine tem- 
per, and by false ideas of the world. These imagina- 
tions are cherished by tales of fiction operating on 
weak or ardent minds, and by the seclusion in which 
some live from active scenes. They have in many 
cases a most pernicious influence ; for they lead to the 
disregard of present advantages, to the neglect of 
those means of future success which would fin all pro- 
bability secure it, and to the adoption of plans and ef- 
forts for this purpose, which every unperverted mind 
sees can never tend to any happy result. The plea- 
sure which is felt in these imaginations renders the 
humbler joys of real life insipid, produces a selfish 
disregard of those offices which the wants of relatives 
may require, and neither hope nor comfort remain 
when these waking visions pass away. It would be 
easy to state numerous instances in which the fairest 
prospects of happiness have been slighted, because so«« 
ber and rational, and because situations which were 
offered, were not adapted to the ideas of a mind warp- 
ed by a misguided imagination, they have been con- 
temptuously rejected ; and qualities which might have 
blessed society, have withered under peevish repining 
and gloomy seclusion. 

Many a young person has flattered himself that the 
smiles of the great would cherish the efforts of his ge- 
nius, and that the patronage of the rich would place 
him in easy circumstances ; the promises made to him, 
though cold and general, fill him with rapture ; he 
scorns those offices of patient and humble industry, 



SERM. XIV. 



AGAINST FOLLY. 



which would infallibly guide him to a moderate inde- 
pendence, wastes in fruitless solicitation, and in sick- 
ening anxiety, the best energies of his mind; and at 
last, instead of the wealth and the fame which he had 
anticipated, he closes his mortifications and disap- 
pointments, by dying poor and neglected. From such 
melancholy facts let the young be convinced, that they 
must think soberly if they would be permanently happy. 
These romantic imaginations are like the beautiful fi- 
gures formed by the hoar frost on the hedge, which 
the rising sun quickly destroys, and exhibits to us no- 
thing but the leafless thorns, or like the clouds gilded 
by the setting sun, which in a little are succeeded by 
the thick darkness. 

The reveries of enthusiasm may also be classed 
among these follies of fancy. The enthusiast, vainly 
puffed up in his fleshly mind, considers himself as a 
favourite of heaven, boasts of his visions and revela- 
tions, and looks for such interpositions as to his tem- 
poral and > spiritual interests as are quite inconsistent 
with the ordinary procedure of Providence, Repent- 
ance, the crucifixion of the flesh, meekness and pa- 
tience, and the humble duties of a private station, 
are parts of religion in which he has no delight. 
Bursts of rapture are with him the evidence of de- 
votion, and to inveigh against the lukewarmness of 
others, and to exhibit in a manner the most disorderly 
and unseasonable the attainments he has made, is all 
the beneficence for which he has any relish. He 
thinks himself a pattern of piety and charity, yet all the 
while he is the dupe of his own heart. The figures 
and the sounds which have swelled him with ecstacy, 
are the creatures of his own fancy. " He feedeth on 
ashes, a deceived heart hath turned him aside, so that 
he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, is there not a lie 

Y 



234 



THE YOUNG WARNED 



SERM. XIV. 



in my right hand/' 1 The admonitions of experience, 
and the calls of friendship, are lost on him, and his re- 
veries sometimes terminate in scoffing impiety, or in 
the blackest horrors of despair. The enemies of the 
Gospel mark the excesses of such persons carefully, 
and it is by them that they endeavour to give effect to 
those sarcasms against religion which with some are 
the most powerful arguments of infidelity. 

Let us all shew that the Spirit of the Gospel is the 
spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind ; and 
let the young beware of extravagance in their feelings 
and conduct. It is by watchfulness and prayer, by 
humility and patient labour, that you will rise to emi- 
nence in religious character; while zeal and fervour in- 
discreet and desultory, will degrade both you and your 
profession. 

I shall only mention further under this division of 
the subject, the delusions of the self-righteous man, 
who cherishes the presumptuous conceit of his own 
merit, and disregards the righteousness of Christ. 
This delusion deserves a worse name than folly, for it 
rejects the noblest gift of heaven, and pours contempt 
on the precious blood of Jesus. Such persons flatter 
themselves that they are the true friends of morality, 
and that they take the most rational method of attain- 
ing everlasting happiness, they express the harshest 
opinions of those who cleave to the merits of Christ as 
their only righteousness, and charge them as discou- 
raging all virtuous efforts, by representing pardon and 
grace as so easily obtained ; but the cross of our Lord 
suggests the strongest reasons and the most animating 
motives for a life of holiness ; it is the only true virtue 
that is formed under its influence, and none shall en« 



■ la. aliv. 20. 



SERM. XIV. 



AGAINST FOLLY. 



255 



ter the mansions of bliss, but those who have " wash- 
ed their robes and made them white in the blood of 
the Lamb." A dying hour generally dissipates the 
vain conceits of the self-righteous man, and none can 
fully describe the horror that he feels at that moment 
when the rock on which he rested crumbles away beneath 
his feet, and when his proud boastings are succeeded 
by the silence of conscious guilt, and the certainty of 
final ruin. 

Let the young beware of " putting confidence in 
the flesh/' and of being puffed up by the praise which 
is sometimes lavished on the promising appearances of 
an early profession. You ought to say, after every act 
of self-denial and courageous adherence to principle 
and duty, u This has been done by the grace of God 
which was with me." 

I proceed now, in the second place, to call your at- 
tention to those follies, in conversation which you ought 
to avoid. It is not my intention to speak of the 
grosser offences in conversation, since for these folly is 
too gentle a name. Nor do I mean to comprehend 
iinder this epithet all those sallies of humour which 
enliven social intercourse by their pleasantry. I wish 
to repress only what the apostle calls " foolish talk- 
ing and jestings, which are not convenient/' 2 Of 
these effusions of indiscreet mirth, Solomon would 
have formed no indulgent opinion; for he said, * of 
laughter it is mad." By conversation thus frivolous 
and nonsensical, the mind becomes degraded and dis- 
sipated, contracts a disrelish for every serious em- 
ployment, and is rendered utterly unfit for all those 
scenes which require patient enquiry and penitential 
reflection. Such conversation, after the exercises of re- 



8 Fph* v. 4-. 



256 



THE YOUNG WARNED 



SERM. X1T. 



ligion, or at the solemnities of death, destroys every 
serious impression, counteracts the design of Provi- 
dence in calling us to such scenes, and confirms the 
influence of the spirit of the world in our hearts. 

The man of humour, who makes the foibles of his 
best friends the subject of his satire, and who to ren- 
der a scene more ludicrous, heightens its absurdity 
and embarrassment by the invention of ridiculous cir- 
cumstances, must not expect that any one that knows 
him will confide in the veracity of his statements, or 
the reality of his friendship. Who would apply to 
this man to be his comforter in the day of sad adver- 
sity, or who would confide to him the secret griefs of 
the heart ? Of the many that laugh with him, there is 
not one who respects him, or who has not reason to 
suppose that the liberties which are used with others, 
will be taken with him in his absence. Maintain no 
familiar intercourse with such men, however amusing 
their company may be ; and let the young be assured, 
that wit is the most dangerous talent which they can 
cultivate, that it will create to them many enemies, and 
lead them to social parties, where their money will be 
squandered, and every worthy purpose forgotten. 

Under folly in conversation may be included also 
the frivolous details by which it is too often engrossed. 
How much idle talking is there about amusements and 
fashions, and the family concerns of others ! It would 
certainly be more wise, in words spoken in season, to 
talk of the pleasures of a religious life, the graces of 
the Christian character, the progress of useful know- 
ledge, and the best means of promoting the present 
and the eternal welfare, of others. From the one scene 
you would retire improved in knowledge and in cha- 
rity, but there is not one that can leave the other say- 
ing, u I quit this place wiser and better," 



5ERM. XIV. 



AGAINST FOLLY. 



257 



The disputes and contentions about public affairs, 
which kindle so much ill nature and fury, should cer- 
tainly be stigmatized as foolish. Many applaud or 
condemn measures, of the reasons and object of which 
they have no adequate information, and neglect the 
business of their calling, and the interests of their fa- 
milies, in seeking after news, and in disputing about 
the conducting of enterprises, and the talents of public 
men. Suspicions and prejudices of the most malignant 
kind are thus produced and strengthened. It would 
certainly be much more suited to our situation and 
character, to lift our views from the intrigues and ca- 
bals of politics to Him who rules over all, and to 
speak of that kingdom u which is righteousness, and 
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost/' 3 This exercise 
would cherish the love of God, and knit the heart of 
man to man. 

I add, on this part of the subject, that they are 
chargeable with folly in conversation whose lips are 
filled with vain boasting. Such persons are always 
heard with disgust. The praise of others may excite 
envy and detraction, but a man's exalting himself will 
certainly subject him to the contempt and the derision 
of all present. 

The disclosures which some make of their private 
affairs in company are most imprudent. Instead of 
exciting the interest of sympathy and friendship, they 
are laughed at for their silliness, and censured for th?:c 
indiscretion. These disclosures are only fit for the 
private ear of a confidential friend, and the most bene- 
volent, who hear them made publicly, perceive that 
persons thus unwise would not derive permanent bene- 
fit from any counsels or aid which they could admi- 



3 Rom. xiv. 17. 



£58 THE YOUNG WARNED 3ERM. XIV. 

nister. Let the young remember that the character 
of a prattler is truly contemptible, and that when per- 
sons at- their period of life talk a great deal, the opi- 
nion is generally formed of such, that they have nei- 
ther much wisdom nor much modesty. 

I proceed now, in the last place, to specify some of 
those follies in conduct against which you ought to 
guard. 

The first that I mention is imprudent connection?. 
Much of our comfort and success in life depends on 
the alliances which we form ; and ere they are formed, 
the most diligent enquiry should be made about the 
dispositions, circumstances, and character of those with 
whom we are to be associated. The neglect of this 
enquiry has led to the most unhappy connections, both 
in marriage and in friendship. Young men have se- 
lected others for their companions from the brilliance 
of their talents, or the elegance of their manners, not 
suspecting that licentiousness or treachery could be 
found in persons thus accomplished ; and so fatal has 
been their influence over them, that their property 
has been sacrified for their debts and their pleasures, 
their principles have been corrupted, and their charac- 
ter and innocence lost, by following them into the pol- 
lutions of the world. It is like the dove accompany- 
ing the vulture in its flight to be devoured. 

It is most imprudent to form connections for life 
where persons have no rational prospect of being able 
to provide suitably for the maintenance of a family. 
The counsels of prudence may be scorned as the calcu- 
lations of a cold and base selfishness, or abhorred as an 
attempt to excite distrust of the care and the good- 
ness of Providence ; and the simple may imagine that 
the worst evils of toil and want can only confirm and 
display the generous attachment of hearts devoted to 



3ERM. XIV. 



AGAINST FOLLY. 



259 



each other ; yet the fervours of passion may be chilled 
by the bleak winds of poverty, and disgust, strife, and 
separation, may be the result of a union, which, if form- 
ed under the guidance of wisdom, might have been 
followed by many years of happiness. If any disad- 
vantages should arise from obeying the dictates of pru- 
dence, they will be more than compensated by the ap- 
probation of your own minds, and by the comforts 
with which God rewards every victory of reason and 
moral principle. 

2. Improper habits should be carefully avoided. 
Habits are tendencies to a particular course of conduct 
acquired from practice; and such is their influence, 
that we often fall into these actions ere'we are aware. 
Bad habits when they have been formed, must be vi- 
gorously and steadily counteracted. An indolent ha- 
bit is the first against which I warn you. By this habit 
many ruin their health, and clothe themselves and their 
families with rags. Even when the circumstances of 
men are such that they can indulge this propensity 
without the fear of poverty, yet none will say that it 
yields the sluggard happiness. Let his bed be ever so 
soft, his sleep is restless, and while the meanest labour- 
er is fresh and cheerful, he is gloomy and languid amid 
his luxurious indulgences. 

A habit of profusion is a most foolish one. Many 
throw away, in the gratification of their own appetites, 
or to please others, sums beyond what wisdom sanc- 
tions, and yet produce not the effect which a less sum 
does that is applied with more propriety. Indiscreet 
profusion encourages indolence and greediness, even 
where it is employed in alleviating real evils ; while a 
judicious and suitable charity aids the poor in their 
own exertions, and will give them nothing that will 
produce in them wants and desires beyond their station* 



260 



THE YOUNG WARNED SERM. XIV. 



It is a most pernicious indulgence to suffer children to 
throw away their vietuals, to destroy their clothes or 
their books, and to spend money idly. Let them by 
no means be taught a sordid parsimony, but let them 
learn to lay out with wisdom. 

Beware of a habit of procrastination, or of putting off 
till an after period, what ought to be done now. Many 
opportunities of improving our circumstances, and of 
being useful to others, are lost by this habit. It fills 
life with the most bitter regrets for the advantages it 
has kept from us, and in our spiritual concerns it post- 
pones the work of salvation till the door is shut, and 
God hath " sworn in his wrath that we shall never enter 
into his rest." 

Rashness is a habit which shews itself in forming 
opinions in cases, or engaging in the execution of plans 
which we have not properly examined, and with regard 
to which we have heard only^the statements of interest- 
ed persons. THere are too many who are eager to 
take the advantage of this temper, and thus to involve 
the young in measures not only unprofitable but ruin- 
ous. 

I shall leave this topic, by warning you against the 
habit of those given to change. There are some of 
such a versatile temper, that they frequently change 
their employments, their associates, and their opinions. 
It is only for a few days that they are pleased with what 
appeared to them most inviting, and the slightest cir- 
cumstance will furnish th^m with a pretext for the 
change. The plant cannot flourish which is not allow* 
ed to strike its roots into the soil, nor can he fill any si- 
tuation respectably which he is eager to leave ere he 
has learned its first duties, or rise to eminence in any 
department of science, who quits it for some other ob- 
ject of study, when he has scarcely advanced beyond 



$£FtM. XiV. 



AGAINST FOLLY. 



261 



its first principles. When a young man is thus nn- 
: stable, it requires not the skill of a prophet to foresee 
that he will never excel. No society has reason to re- 
gret the defection of the fickle, nor can they be any ac- 
quisition to that which they join. 
i- 8. I must caution you also against pernicious amuse- 
ments. There are some who condemn every species 
of amusement, but this severity is most injudicious. 
It fills the young and the gay with aversion to religion, 
as replete with austerities and mortifications. Such too 
is the influence of continued application on the mind 
and the body, that intervals of recreation are absolutely 
necessary for the health of both. 

But there are various amusements which, however 
fashionable, must be condemned on account of the 
time which they consume, their expensive nature, and 
the temptations to sin which they present. Theatrical 
entertainments are eagerly resorted to by multitudes, 
and defended by specious arguments ; but if you consi- 
der the false views of life given in plays, the profane 
and lewd expressions from which few of them are free, 
the artful colouring with which the excesses of the li- 
bertine are covered, the ridicule thrown on the sober 
and the grave, the enticers to wickedness, in whose 
way such amusements may throw the young and un- 
guarded, the fascinating influence of such exhibitions 
. on the mind, and the encouragement thus given to 
characters often possessing few claims to it, you will 
deplore the infatuation that leads so many to crowd to 
them, and resolve to discountenance them as far as 
your influence extends. 

Gaming is a most dangerous amusement. It is 
pleaded by some, as an apology for it, that they game 
only for amusement, or for a trifling sum ; but by this 
the passion is cherished ; and if we may judge from its 



262 



THE YOUNG WARNED 



SERTtf. XIV. 



effects, it is of all others the most furious. Often do 
we hear of the ruined gamester lifting his hand against 
his own life. The ball enters his burning temples, and 
his skull, and brains, and blood, scattered along the 
floor, are fearful attestations of the excesses to which 
this amusement will hurry, and of the irretrievable ruin 
and the horrible despair in which it plunges. 

Figure to yourselves a young man, respected for his 
sobriety and diligence, who, in his haste to be rich, re- 
pairs to the gaming table, Partial success fills his heart 
with exultation, and fancy surrounds him with golden 
visions ; but soon, from the superior skill, or the arti- 
fice of those with whom he plays, he is stripped of all 
that parents, in affectionate self-denial, had remitted 
to him, or years of service had laid up. He purloins 
the property of his master to repair his losses ; this 
also is hazarded, and his ignominious death closes 
the mournful scene. O let no solicitation induce you 
to go to scenes of gambling, and no assurances of gra- 
tification or success ! One visit to them will in all pro- 
bability be the commencement of your course of ruin, 
from their fascinating influence, and from the arts which 
will be employed to secure your return. 

There are other amusements of a humbler cast, which 
have been extolled by some eccentric politicians as che- 
rishing a martial spirit among the common people. To 
speak against them is censured as an attempt to de- 
stroy the recreations of the poor, and to involve them 
in the gloomy austerities of fanaticism ; yet they are 
suited only to a depraved and cruel heart. Animals 
maiming and tearing one another, can only be seen with 
pleasure where the heart has been long habituated to 
suoh scenes, and where selfishness will have its own 
gratification, regardless of the suffering to others by 
which it is procured. To the disgrace of our country, 



SERM. XIV. 



AGAINST FOLLY. 



263 



battles of skill and strength are fought betwixt human 
beings, and the spectacle is patronized even by some 
of the great and the noble. Two men, without the 
least animosity, will bruise and mangle one another's 
bodies, while crowds gaze and enjoy every blow that is 
given. It would be an insult to the venerable name of 
Christianity, to ask, Can these be Christians ? But 
are they men ? They have the forms of men, but the 
hearts of tigers. In vain do we boast of the influence 
of Christianity in suppressing the combats of gladia- 
tors, by which the Roman populace were so much gra- 
tified, while such scenes are so frequented in some places 
of our land. With us, indeed, they have not the 
sanction of law ; yet to them some will crowd as to the 
highest gratification. From such scenes the wise and 
good turn away with disgust and horror, saying, ce Ra- 
ther would I dwell in the depth of the wilderness, nay 
in the darkness of the grave, than have my place and 
my delights with men such as these," 

I conclude this part of the subject by observing, that 
much folly is committed in the entertainments of the 
table. There are seasons when men may with proprie- 
ty enjoy the company of their friends in festivity ; but 
the frequency and the expence of such entertainments 
must be regulated by prudence. If a fondness for 
them injures your substance, destroys the quiet of your 
dwellings, leads you to vie with those who are more 
opulent than you in the luxury and splendour of }'our 
feasts ; if it carries you to the tavern when you ought 
to be at your business or at ^our prayers, it ought to 
be vigorously checked. It is a great mistake to sup- 
pose, that enjoyment is to be found exclusively or chief- 
ly in such scenes. Providence blesses the' solitude of 
' the good, and fills the dwellings of the industrious with 
health and joy. United in heart, and happy in their 



264 



THE YOUNG WARNED 



SEEM. XIV. 



duty, life passes away in peace. The man who retai ns 
from his labour to the smiles and the blessings of his 
family, and, after partaking with them of the fare which 
contentment sweetens, and devotion hath blessed, and, 
commending them to the protection of heaven, retires to 
the sweet repose of health and innocence, is far hap- 
pier than he is, who lingers in the festive scene till a 
late hour, while his dwelling is filled with anxiety and 
sadness, and whose inflamed blood and aching head 
permit him no sleep but what is broken and unrefresh- 
ing. " Take heed, lest at any time your hearts be 
overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness." 4 

I shall now suggest some means by which you may 
be preserved from the follies against which I have warn- 
ed you. 

Meditate frequently on the laws of God which forbid 
them. <f He hath spoken peace to his people and to 
his saints ; but let them not turn again to folly. For- 
sake the foolish and live, and walk in the way of under- 
standing. See that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, 
but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are 
eyil." 5 

Meditate frequently on the punishment which God 
threatens to inflict on those who indulge in folly. " The 
prosperity of fools shall destroy them. Judgments are 
prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools. 
Fools die for want of wisdom. Shame shall be the 
promotion of fools." 6 Look around you on the world, | 
and behold in how many instances these and similar 
threatenings are realized. 

Cherish a taste for wisdom. Let sobriety mark all 

4 Luke xxi. 34. 

* Psalm lxxxv. 8 ; Prov. ix. 6 ; Eph. v. 15, 10. 
« Prov. i. 32; xix. 29 ; iii. So; x. 21. 



SERM. XIV. 



AGAINST FOLLY. 



your views ; and your love abound more and more in 
all knowledge, and in all judgment. Let your discourse 
be good and edifying. Form no connection without 
due deliberation, and till you have sought God's guid- 
ance and sanction by repeated prayer. Cultivate every 
wise habit, especially those of frugality and industry, 
decision, foresight, and steadiness. With such guides, 
you will walk surely. Exercise yourselves unto godli- 
ness ; and in the various services in which it will en- 
gage you, no worldly happiness will be equal to yours. 
Remember that the heart of the. wise is in the house of 
mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of 
mirth. Be not overcome of wine, wherein is excess, 
or a state of mind and senses besotted and depraved, 
but be ye filled with the Spirit. 

Implore the influences of divine grace to keep you 
from folly, and to guide you in the. ways of true wis- 
dom. « If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, 
who giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not, and it 
shall be given him ; but let him ask in faith, nothing 
wavering." 7 Confess to him, with sincere penitence, 
the errors into which you have fallen in time past, from 
your confidence in yourselves, and say to him that you 
are willing to submit entirely and implicitly to his guid- 
ance. 

Often reflect on the shortness and uncertainty of 
life. Have we time for folly ? What if death should 
find us forming senseless projects, instead of prepa- 
ring for eternity ; mingling with the giddy in the 
scene of vanity, instead of treading with the good the 
way to Zion ; and with our mouths pouring out foolish- 
ness, instead ©f the language of prayer and praise? 
Wise men die, and the fool and the brutish person pe- 



7 James i. 5, 6* 



266 THE YOUNG WARNED, &C. SERM. XIV. 

rish. O let your moments be devoted to wisdom and 
goodness ! They deserve all your time, yea all eter- 
nity, for they can bless and honour both. 

Endeavour to form a plan for the proper emploj'- 
ment of the various portions of your time, so that eve- 
ry hour may have its task, for the fulfilment of which 
an approving conscience will reward you. It is to kill 
the time which hangs so heavily on them, that many 
hurry to the most frivolous amusements. It is not that 
they care for them, but they have no other way of get- 
ting rid of their dull vacant hours. O that they were 
led to devote them to studies and pursuits worthy of 
immortal beings, and to count every day lost in which 
knowledge was not acquired, and good was net done ! 
These counsels we recommend to your serious atten* 
lion. Wisdom will be your own credit and advantage ; 
and " a wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish 
son is die heaviness of his mother." 8 



* Prov. x. L 



SERM. XV, ON THE FRIENDSHIP, &C 



26? 



SERMON XV. 

ON THE FRIENDSHIP OF JONATHAN, 



% Sam. i. 26. 
«< Thy love to me was wonderful," 

The history of Jonathan has been read with the great- 
est interest. The young especially have contemplated, 
with a melting heart, his generous and tender friend- 
ship for David, and mingled their tears with those of 
the Son of Jesse over his melancholy fate. In Jona- 
than's character, qualities were combined which are 
rarely united,— intrepidity in danger, and gentleness 
sweetly adapted to the most placid scenes,— filial duty 
in its most exemplary form, and friendship stedfast to 
its pledges, while blamed as inconsistent with that du- 
ty, — and the ardent love of fame and glory, with meek 
acquiescence in the superior distinction and more per- 
manent influence of another. Unlike that of his fa- 
ther, his excellence shines untarnished to the last ; nor 
is there a single circumstance in his conduct to mingle 
shame with our sorrow. 

History has recorded various friendships, and in the 
narration of these much eloquence and feeling have been 



ON THE FRIENDSHIP 



SERM. XV. 



displayed. The imagination has been frequently em- 
ployed in drawing pictures of the triumphs of friend- 
ship, and many of these are beautiful and striking ; 
but never did it appear in a form so sweetly interest- 
ing as in this sacred narrative. Here every stroke is 
an appeal to the heart. In viewing it, no suspicion 
that it is too finely coloured for reality damps the plea- 
sure of the mind, or the desire which we feel to culti- 
vate what appears to us so lovely. It occurs in the 
history of a people rude and stubborn, and charms us 
by the contrast it presents to turbulence, selfishness, 
and ferocity, in a character so mild, affectionate, and 
generous. 

Too often are we forced to contemplate the malig- 
nant passions of human nature in their violent excesses, 
and to behold man acting as the foe of man; and it may 
relieve and soften the heart, to take a view of Jona- 
than^ attachment to David. This will lead us to such 
views of his character, as will strongly recommend to 
us the culture of the fairest excellence. It will guide 
the young to scenes that accord with impressions to 
which they attach both dignity and enjoyment ; direct 
them in the choice of their companions, and give to 
their friendships such qualities as will render them the 
joy of youth and the blessing of their future life. 

In this discourse, I shall endeavour to shew, that 
the friendship of Jonathan to David was wonderful ; 
and conclude the illustration of this topic by some prac- 
tical reflections. 

1 . The attachment ©f Jonathan to David was won- 
derful in its tenderness. Jonathan seems to have been 
struck with the appearance and behaviour of David 
after his victory over the Philistine; and it could scarce- 
ly fail to attract a heart like his. Amidst the approba- 



SEEM. XV. 



JONATHAN. 



269 



tion of the king, and the shouts of the people, his lan- 
guage and manners were simple and modest. The 
beauty of his countenance gained the heart of Jona- 
than, by the qualities of soul which it indicated, and 
the intimate correspondence which followed, rivetted 
the attachment, by the discoveries which it made of 
David's worth. It is to the softer qualities that the 
heart does homage. We admire the courage of the 
warrior ; we celebrate his skill, gallantry, and perse- 
verance ; but it is the kindness of his spirit, the gene- 
rosity of his heart, and the mercy that shrinks from 
the needless effusion of human blood, and ministers 
to the wounded and the helpless, which secure to him a 
love that dwells on his name, when the interest of his 
victories hath passed away. 

The phrase which is employed to point out Jona- 
than's regard to David strongly intimates its tender- 
ness. " He loved him as his own soul." The tears that 
marked their separation flowed from the heart. The tes- 
timonies which Jonathan gave of his friendship were 
such as no common attachment could have prompted. 
Few of his expressions of kindness are recorded ; but 
by the language which has now been quoted, a stronger 
conviction is produced of his devoted attachment, than 
is felt after reading all the complimentary effusions of 
modern friendship. 

The friendships of courts have been generally con* 
sidered as an empty name. Even those who have 
bound themselves most strongly to each other, and 
whose language is marked by phrases sacred to confi- 
dence and affection, have sacrificed their party at the 
call of interest or ambition. Friendship is a plant 
which seldom thrives in a situation so high and expos- 
ed. Political intrigues, and the spirit of party, favour 
no principles but such as are mean and selfish ; but 



270 



ON THE FRIENDSHIP 



SERM. XY 



Jonathan's friendship was as warm as any ever wit-' 
nessed in scenes most propitious to the kind affections/ 
where no opposition of interest, and no rivalship in 
fame, repress the emotions of good will, and where mu- 
tual obligations strengthen the confidence of men in 
each other. 

2. Jonathan's friendship was wonderful in its gene- 
rosity. Its liberal nature is beautifully intimated in 
the present which he made to David at the commence- 
ment of their acquaintance. Jonathan stripped him- 
self of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to Da- 
vid ; and his garment, even to his sword, his bow, and 
his girdle. 1 It is seldom that men can bear a rival's 
glory. They can bear to see a man applauded for qua- 
lities in which they do not think themselves pre-emi- 
nent, and on the culture of which they have bestowed 
little attention ; but to hear them extolled for that on 
which they chiefly value themselves, pierces them to the 
heart. It is seldom that the warrior joins with cordia- 
lity in the praise of the hero, whose lot it has been to 
give the decisive blow which gained the victory, the 
fame of which he was determined should be his own. 
He feels cold and comfortless under the shade of his 
laurels. But Jonathan, though a brave general, and 
idolized by the people, is loudest in praise of David, 
and shews to all around that it was his delight to ho- 
nour him. 

The kind heart of Jonathan was inaccessible to envy. 
The triumphs of David were sweet to him as his own. 
His father's heart was wrung with envy when he heard 
the shouts of the daughters of Israel, " Saul hath slain 
his thousands, and David his ten thousands f 2 but the 
spirit of his son was more noble and generous, and had 



1 1 Sam. xviii. 3. 4. 



2 1 Sam. xviii. 7* 



SERM. XV. OF JONATHAN. 27 t 

the exploits of David been placed as far above his own, 
he would promptly have admitted that the eulogium 
was just. 

Jonathan was soon made conscious that David was 
destined to be king over Israel. With the most of 
men the first conviction of this would have destroyed 
every sentiment and purpose of kindness. Every emo- 
tion of tenderness would have been driven from his 
heart, by the idea of a successful rival possessing that 
throne, to which he had so strong a claim. But Jona- 
than knew that such was the will of heaven, and he 
was persuaded that David would fill it with honour. 
He felt in the exaltation of David nought but the ele- 
vation of a friend, and had he lived he would have 
been one of the firmest supporters of his throne. Jona- 
than appears to have had a presentiment of his fate ; 
and aware that he would not live to witness his ad- 
vancement, he recommends his children to his care. 
It would be deemed, in the most of cases, a complete 
sacrifice of the rights and hopes of a family to leave it 
to a rival's care ; but Jonathan knew the noble princi- 
ples of David's mind, and the result shewed that his 
confidence was wise. 

When we think how often the friendships of men are 
turned into fierce and bloody animosities, by jealousy 
and envy, we admire the more the love of which the 
text speaks. The friendship which selfishness con- 
trouls and envy stifles, is unworthy of the name. Ge- 
nerous friendship is like the benevolence of heaven, and 
it is the spirit of Jesus. 

3. Jonathan's friendship was wonderful in its cou- 
rage. The displeasure of a father must be painful to 
a virtuous heart The idea of his curse is too horrible, 
I had almost said, to be borne, yet this Jonathan 
braved in the defence of David. He knew the vio- 
4 



272 OS THE FRIENDSHIP SERM. XV. 

lence of his father's temper, and how much it was in 
his power to injure him ; yet conscious that his sus- 
picions of David were groundless, and that the cruel 
malice which he cherished against him could not be 
justified by any thing in his conduct, he respectfully 
but firmly remonstrated with Saul on his behaviour, 
and laboured to bring him to better views and feelings 
with regard to his friend. " And Jonathan spake 
good of David to Saul his father, and said unto him, 
Let not the king sin against his servant, against Da- 
vid, because he hath not sinned against thee, and be- 
cause his works have been to thee ward very good. 
For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Phi- 
listine, and the Lord wrought a great salvation for all 
Israel ; thou sawest it and didst rejoice, wherefore then 
wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David 
without a cause f 3 Infatuated young men have often 
been heard pleading with parents in behalf of the com- 
panion who has imposed on their simplicity, and is en- 
ticing them to their ruin. We mark their entreaties 
with pity, and their obstinacy with horror, but it is 
seldom that parents like Saul are bent on the destruc- 
tion of the excellent associates in whom their children 
delight. 

But Jonathan hazarded his life for his friend. You 
have all heard of the friendship of Damon and Pythias, 
and have felt how strong that attachment must have 
been which made one friend devote himself to death 
for another, and glory in the opportunity of shew- 
ing that the man he loved was dearer to him than 
life and all the world. Let that deed ever have its 
due praise, and let us not by insinuating that this act 
©f generosity might be dictated by any unworthy mo- 



f 1 Sao* xix. 4, & 



SERM. XV. 



OF JONATHAN. 



273 



tive, give the infidel reason to say that we are afraid of 
a fair comparison betwixt it and the boasted displays 
of religious charity. Much as we admire the conduct 
of this man, it certainly is exceeded by some displays 
of affection recorded in Scripture, and is at least equal- 
led by the behaviour of Jonathan, when, by supporting 
the innocence of David, he exposed himself to destruc- 
tion as a rebel against his father's government, and as 
the supposed accomplice of one whom Saul hated and 
dreaded as his deadliest enemy. To his father's furi- 
ous abuse of David, and of him for his friendship to 
him, he replied, " wherefore shall he be slain, what 
hath he done ? and Saul cast a javelin at him to smite 
him." 4 It was not merely death that he braved, but 
death from the hand of an exasperated father. 

Contrast this regard with that of the world around 
you. Few will defy any abuse in the vindication of 
their friends, or expose themselves to the slightest 
blow that is aimed at them. The friendships of the 
world are timid and cowardly, or if they are bold and 
undaunted, they are so only in braving what ought to 
fill men with shame ; but the spirit of power and of 
love were given to Jonathan, and in him they operated 
in the most beautiful harmony. 

4. The friendship of Jonathan was wonderful in its 
constancy. This is seldom the character of friendships 
in any situation, but those of courts are especially 
short-lived. The man who is high in the esteem of his 
prince, is caressed and flattered by all ; but whenever 
the royal favour is withdrawn from him, he is neglect- 
ed and reviled. Foibles and vices which were eagerly 
palliated are now exposed in all their deformity, and 
measures for which he was loudly extolled, are now un- 



* 1 Sam. xx. 32, 33» 



ON THE FRIENDSHIP 



SERM. XV. 



dervalued, or the merit of them is ascribed to another. 
It is while a courtier is supposed to have wealth and 
distinctions at his disposal that his favour is sought, 
and that the obsequious are seen crowding to his gate, 
and bending in his presence, who would in a change 
of circumstances desert him to pay their homage to 
another. 

But Jonathan's friendship to David could not be 
moved. Though David was hated at court, and re* 
proached and persecuted by all those who wished to 
gain the favour of Saul, and though he was forced to 
flee into a land of strangers for his life, yet Jonathan's 
heart cleaved to him. The image of David was his 
companion by night and by day ; and in the field of 
battle where he fell, the hope of his kindness to his fa- 
mily lightened the horrors of his fate. 

It will not appear surprizing that David should dwell 
with such complacency on the constancy of Jonathan's 
friendship, if we reflect how severely he was tried by 
the perfidy of many who had promised to adhere to 
him in all events. To his heart this was a severe af* 
fliction ; and he bewailed it in language which shews, 
that of all insults and injuries, he felt those most 
acutely which came from the hand that had been 
pledged to him in friendship. If he felt this so pain- 
fully, what exquisite delight must not the friendship of 
Jonathan have given him, which neither distance, nor 
time, nor promises, nor threats, could destroy or en* 
feeble. 

5. Jonathan's friendship was wonderful for those 
sentiments of religion by which it was sanctified. 
Association in vice is often dignified by the name of 
friendship. The league betwixt evil men is confirmed 
by the revels of drunkenness ; and the combinations of 
infidels against Christianity have been sealed by rites* 



SERM. XV. 



OP JONATHAN. 



275 



and characterized by the common use of phrases ex* 
pressive of the most horrid profanity. 

With the most part of men the idea of religion sel- 
dom enters into their friendships, nor do they seem to 
be at all aware how much it is calculated to give to it 
elevation and strength. But Jonathan loved David as 
one that feared God, and who was destined signally to 
promote his glory. The man after God's own heart 
was the friend of his. Jonathan said to David, the 
last time they met, " Go in peace, forasmuch as we 
have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, say- 
ing, The Lord be between me and thee, and between 
my seed and thy seed for ever." 5 This circumstance 
suggested the thought to David that their friendship 
was sanctioned by heaven, and that though its inter- 
course was suspended for a season, it would be renew- 
ed in a happier state, where it would be neither embit- 
tered by calamity, nor opposed by jealousy and ma- 
lice. 

If men would consider how much the sympathy and 
kindness, the candour and the forbearance required by 
religion improve the temper, and sweeten the inter- 
course of friendship, they would not be so unwilling to 
cultivate its spirit. That man cannot be perfidious 
in his friendships, who believes the Almighty is the 
witness of his vows ; nor can he be cold and sluggish 
in any of the charities of life in whom the Spirit of 
power and of love dwells. The ordinances of religion 
are bonds of love. At the communion table the re- 
membrance of the Redeemer's love strengthens every 
benevolent feeling; and when we contemplate a 
friend's interest in the grace, and in the blood of 

esus, our hearts cleave to him with greater force than 



5 1 Sam. xx. 42. 



2?6 ON THE FRIENDSHIP SEflM. XV. 

ever. The promises and hopes of religion are the 
most effectual means of reconciling the mind to the 
separations made by death, in which the world at- 
tempts to comfort the surviver by its gaieties and its 
cares, and the pain of which philosophy labours in 
vain to alleviate by reasonings too cold and uncertain, 
to be satisfactory to the wounded heart. Religion also 
animates, and guides the efforts of friends to secure 
the eternal salvation of each other ; and this is an ob- 
ject so grand, that, compared with it, all the gains of 
industry, all the acquirements of literature, and all the 
praise of men seem as nothing. 

I conclude the discourse with some practical reflec- 
tions. 

1. Let the friendships of the young be distinguish- 
ed by such qualities. Let your friends be chosen for 
those estimable qualities of heart and character in 
which Jonathan was so eminent. The specious ac- 
complishments of a polite education, and of fashion- 
able manners, may be the instruments of deceit, and 
can only adorn a scene of gaiety, or delight a heart 
at ease; but the qualities which have now been 
described, are essential features of genuine excellence, 
and their influence is most conspicuous in peril and 
sorrow. " Be kindly affectioned one towards another, 
in honour preferring one another. 6 Be not afraid of 
encountering calumny and malice, in vindicating the 
character, and in maintaining the rights of your friends. 
It is often stated as a discredit to the friendships of 
youth that they are transient, and that the mind must 
be enlightened by experience, and its fickleness and 
precipitance cured by its admonitions, ere it can form 



6 Rom. xil. 10. 



SERM. XV. 



OF JONATHAN. 



277 



a friendship worthy of the name ; but let your conduct 
shew that you can choose without rashness, and cleave 
without wavering to one that truly deserves your re- 
gard. Let the friendships of your youth be those of 
your life, and let the heart which participates with you 
in the gay scenes of your early days, share in the cares 
and the gloom of your decline. Let your companions 
be such as fear God, and keep his commandments ; 
and let your intercourse be sanctified by the reading 
of the Scriptures, by religious conversation, and by in- 
tercession for each other. The Divine Spirit, which 
produced these amiable principles in the heart of Jona- 
than, can form you to all goodness, and righteousness, 
and truth, and let his influences be asked with con* 
staney and fervour. 

2. This subject shews us that it is on the attach- 
ment which departed friends bore to us, that the heart 
chiefly dwells. David celebrates the military renown 
and prowess of Jonathan, but it is obvious that he 
loved to expatiate in this hour of sorrow on the kind- 
ness of his heart, and that kindness as directed to him. 
The higher the degree of excellence is which we attri- 
bute to our friends, the more gratifying to the heart is 
the idea of their affection. It is indeed a soothing 
thought, that he whose worth is proclaimed, and whose 
memory is cherished by all around, loved us as his 
own soul, and lived and died with us in his heart. 
At the grave of a friend it is consoling to think, that, 
amidst the varied scenes of his life, his kindness to us 
was never altered ; that all his acquirements in wisdom 
and goodness were devoted to our improvement ; that 
solicitude for our happiness was the last of his 
earthly cares ; that his dying looks were directed to us, 
and were withdrawn from us to fix them on the Son 
of man in his glory ; and that the tongue now silent in 
2 A 



-73 ON THE FRIENDSHIP SERM. XV. 

.the grave, and which often bore our names in its sup- 
plications to Heaven, in faultering accents, left us af- 
fection's death-bed blessing. On the other hand, how 
killing is the thought when our friends are gone, that 
our misconduct, and our harshness, were their grief, 
and their burden, and that instead of the pleasing in- 
tercourse they had anticipated with us in religious ex- 
ercises, they saw we had no heart to them, and were 
glad of every pretext to shun them. They thought 
once that they might safely entrust to us their most 
valuable interests, but they found themselves betrayed 
and spoiled by hands they deemed as pure as their 
own. A friend's grave is dreadful as the place of dra- 
gons to a man in such a state of mind as this. 

o. The death of Jonathan gives us a most striking 
view of the vanity of the world. Here is a man idol- 
ized by the thousands of Israel, eminent for many 
estimable qualities, and who promised to be the de- 
fence and the blessing of that country of which he was 
the ornament, who is cut off by the hand of the Phi- 
listines in his prime. And is this a solitary instance 
of untimely death? Youth has often been blasted 
when putting forth its fairest blossoms. How many of 
our poetical effusions mourn the early decline of ex- 
cellence and beauty ! The elegiac Muse sits in the 
dust, and, tuning her harp for the notes of sorrow, 
sings of affection's fondest hopes, and beauty's fairest 
bloom perishing in the grave. 

But let us take comfort from the persuasion, that 
the estimable qualities with which the grace of God 
endowed them, were pledges of immortality. These 
virtues were not reared to blossom only for a day in 
this desert land; their fragrance and their beauty indi- 
cated that they were destined for paradise. Can we 
think that hearts renewed by Divine grace were con- 



5ERM. XV. 



OF JONATHAN. 



279 



nected by ties so sacred only for the few hours of a 
present life, and that they are parted in death for 
ever ? Did not the purity and the tenderness of their 
friendship intimate, that they were soon to mingle with 
just men made perfect, and that they were preparing 
for the communion of the land of love ? These sooth* 
ing ideas are strengthened by the consideration of the 
moral perfections of the Deity, by the representations 
©f Scripture respecting the interest which Jesus takes 
in our friendships, and the glory which will arise to 
him from their perfection in heaven. 

Jesus knows the sorrow that is felt for a dead friend*, 
and the joy of receiving him from the grave ; we now 
follow him in that sorrow, and that joy shall one day 
be ours. What was excellent on earth is perfect in 
glory, and what God takes from us he will restore^ 
with advantage. 

Finally, Let us meditate on the love of Jesus, which 
is far more wonderful than that of Jonathan. How 
admirable is the tenderness of the love of Christ! 
This is an epithet which the sacred writers delight to 
apply to it. They speak also of the yearnings of his 
bowels, and of the meltings of his heart, and ascribe to 
him a father's pity, and an affection closer than a bro- 
ther's. And shall our hearts be cold to him? See 
that ye love him with a pure heart fervently. It is 
only the foolish, and the profane, who will charge this 
with enthusiasm. 

The generosity of Christ's love is unparalleled. 
Though he was rich, for our sakes he became poor ; 
and though he was in the form of God, and equal to 
him, he humbled himself to the death of the cross. 
And what have we given to him ? Shall we account 
any part of our time too large, any portion of our 



280 ON THE FRIENDSHIP, &C. SERM. XV. 

goods too vast, or any comfort of our dwellings too 
dear to be sacrificed for him ? 

How astonishing was the courage of his love ! He 
endured the wrath of God, and defied the rage of 
hell in our cause, and shall we be afraid of the dis- 
pleasure of friends, or the laughter of fools in profes- 
sing his name ? And it is wonderful in its constancy. 
It could neither be shaken by all the horrors of death> 
nor alienated by all the splendours of glory. He sees 
around him in heaven beings that never offended him, 
and more noble than the children of the dust, yet he 
glories in his love to man. How solemn were the 
pledges which Jesus gave to his Father with regard 
to his whole mediation in our behalf! And you know 
how faithful he has been to these, and never let your 
tows to him be broken or forgotten. To his genuine 
disciples Jesus now says, " As the Father hath loved 
me, so have I loved you, continue ye in my love 5 
and to his enemies (for there are some whose minds 
are so blinded, and whose hearts are so depraved, as to 
be his enemies) he gives this counsel, and I pray God 
that they may be induced to comply with it, " Kiss 
ye the Son lest he be angry, and ye perish from the 
way when his wrath is kindled for a little. Blessed 
are all they that put their trust in him." 6 



5 John xv. 0. 



• Psalm h\ \2i 



SER1VJ. XVI, THE YOUNG RECONCILED, &C. 281 



SERMON XVI. 

THE YOUNG RECONCILED TO AN EARLY DEATH 



2 Kings iv. 18— .20. 

** And when the child wa& grown, it fell on a day that he went 
out to his father to the reapers. And he said to his father, My 
head, my head ; and he said to a lad, carry him to his mother, 
and when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he 
sat on her knees till noon, and then died." 

That earthly enjoyments are uncertain and transi- 
tory, is a truth universally admitted, yet too often for- 
gotten. Moral writers have lavished on this theme 
the most striking images which a vivid fancy could 
suggest, and represented, in pathetic description, many 
a sad vicissitude; yet the prosperous still flatter them- 
selves that their comforts are safe. They imagine that 
the destroying angel will not come into their dwellings 
to smite, and that what is so deservedly dear to their 
hearts, God will not command them to relinquish. 
Such are the delusions which many cherish in spite of 
every warning, till the blow is given that lays the ob- 
ject of their delight in the dust. 

These remarks are affectingly illustrated by this 
text. This Shunamite had fondly hoped that the Son 



282 THE YOUNG RECONCILED SERM. XVI. 

given her as a signal mark of the Divine favour, would 
live to be the blessing of her old-age ; and a heart so 
kind and tender as hers, must have regarded him with 
the strongest affection ; yet he is taken from her, and 
not after such a struggle with a loathsome and ago- 
nizing disease, as might in some measure have recon- 
ciled her to his death, but after a few hours sickness ; 
nor hath she any child left in her dwelling on whom 
a mother's heart may still rest. This dreadful ca- 
lamity was intended to correct the excessive fondness 
which had almost idolized her child, and to prove 
and exercise her faith and patience. These graces she 
displayed in a manner most honourable to herself, and 
most useful to sufferers in every succeeding age. 
Many a mother has fixed her eye on this narrative, 
while she sat by the sick-bed of her child, and learned 
from it to make the demanded sacrifice with fortitude 
and hope. 

It is not my intention to set before parents the les- 
sons which they are taught by this text, but to im- 
prove it for the benefit of the young. Let not them 
imagine that such instances of early death are rare. 
A great part of the church-yard is occupied with the 
graves of the young, and it is certain that the half of 
the human race die before they reach the seventeenth 
year of their age. Children often go with funerals to 
the church-yard, and crowd near the grave to see the 
coffin let down; and do you never mark the ensigns on 
it, which tell you that it is the receptacle of childhood 
and youth ? Are you never reminded while you read 
the inscription on its lid, that this is precisely your 
own age ? Do you never see thrown in with the 
dust, skulls and bones as small and slender as yours ? 
Do you never mark the anguish with which the fa- 
ther's hand drops his cord, and the look which he 



SERM. XVI. TO AN EARLY DEATH. 28£ 

gives to the grave when he quits it, which seems to 
say, " My heart is there." It would be good for the 
young were they taught to feel at such scenes, that the 
time of their departure is at hand, and to say, " I shall 
lie down like them in the dust, and the worms shall 
cover me." 

In calling the young from this text to prepare to 
meet their God, I shall make some remarks on the ac- 
count given in it of the illness and death of the son of 
the Shunamite, and suggest some considerations which 
may reconcile their minds to an early departure from 
the world. 

I. Let us attend to the account given in the text of 
the illness and death of this young person. 

1. The illness of this young person was very unex- 
pected. He went out to his father to the reapers, and 
while sporting by his side delighting him by his prat- 
tle, or striving to imitate the labours of those whom 
he saw busy around him, he is struck with a fatal ill- 
ness. This circumstance ought strongly to impress 
you. Think not that you shall have long, or even any 
previous warning of the approach of sickness. It may 
come in a moment, perhaps on the very day which you 
had devoted to some gay amusement, and when your 
heart is beating high with enjoyment. You may be 
taken from the scene of mirth to groan on a sickbed, 
to endure sufferings which you vainly imagined would 
never be allotted to you, and to say, after enumerating 
all your preparations for enjoyment, and securities for 
happiness, " yet trouble came." 

We read of no disease that was raging around this 
young man's dwelling : All was health, activity, and 
joy, when the sun received a commission to smite him. 
The person attacked by disease is not one who had 



%84< THE YOUNG RECONCILED SERM. XVI. 

been abandoned to the care of strangers, who, from the 
neglect or the harshness with which he had been 
treated, was weak and sickly, or whose relations were 
unable to make any effort to procure him relief, but 
one whose parents had taken the kindest interest in 
his welfare, who had employed every precaution for 
his safety, and whose circumstances put it in their 
power to obtain for him every thing that could pro- 
mise alleviation or a cure. It was by his father's side 
that this illness seized him. It was on his mother's 
knees that his breath went forth. 

You have reason to bless God for the care of pa- 
rents, and for placing you in circumstances so diffe- 
rent from those of the neglected orphan, and of chil- 
dren wasted by toil, and pining in hunger and rags ; 
yet remember that you have no sure defence against 
the most painful and loathsome maladies, and that it 
becomes you not to be high-minded, but to fear al- 
ways. " Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou 
knowest not what a day may bring forth." 1 

2. Consider how suddenly this illness terminated in 
death. He goes out in perfect health to the field some- 
time after the reapers had commenced their labours, 
and at noon he expires. It is probable that the heat 
of the sun, which at that season is very intense in the 
East, had produced this violent pain in his head, and 
such a putrescence in the juices of the body, as quickly 
terminated his life. It is not surprising that it had 
this effect on one delicately brought up, when by its 
power robust soldiers have fallen dead in the ranks. 
It is this fatal " solstitial disease" which is described 
in Psalm xci. as the destruction that wasteth at noon- 
day. 



1 Prov. xxv ii. 12, 



SEEM. XVI. 



TO AN EARLY DEATH* 



285 



Think not that it is only the middle-aged, and the 
old, who are liable to sudden death. There have been 
many instances in which the young have passed away 
" as the flower of the grass. For the sun is no sooner 
risen with a burning heat, than it withereth the grass, 
and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the 
fashion of it perisheth." 2 Nor is this the only influ- 
ence that is fatal to it ; for the blighting frost, or the 
devouring worm, may destroy it while it is blossoming 
in all its beauty. Death requires, no tedious series of 
preparations to dim the sparkling eye, to change the 
blooming countenance, or to chill the glowing heart. 
If he strikes, it is done. . You have no reason for the 
vain confidence, that if you are to die in youth, it 
will be by lingering disease, or that you will perceive 
the approach of death when it is at so great a distance 
as will give you ample time to prepare for its arrival. 
To preserve you from cherishing such a dangerous de- 
lusion, know assuredly, for it is a melancholy fact, 
that even those who thus consume away, are often 
surprized by death. So insensible is the progress of 
the disease, and so eager are injudicious friends to 
hide from them every fatal symptom, that they are 
seldom aware of their danger till they are on the 
brink of the grave. Then they open their eyes to 
close them in the dust of death. Many die of linger- 
ing maladies without the smallest symptoms of reli- 
gious concern, full of plans for their relief, and without 
feeling disposed once to put that question, " What 
shall I do to be saved I" To-day then, if ye will hear 
his voice, harden not your hearts, nor delude them 
with presumptuous expectations, " for as the Lord 
liveth there is but a step betwixt you and death," 3 



? James I 11. 



3 1 Sam. xx, 3. 



THE YOUNG RECONCILED SERM. XVI. 



3. The text informs us, where this young person 
died. His father said, " carry him home to his mother, 
and he sat on her knees till noon and then died." In 
these simple words, a picture is presented which strong- 
ly interests the heart, and places the whole dying 
scene at once before us. The language employed by 
the sacred historian beautifully points out the tender 
solicitude of the mother. She would not for one mo- 
ment relinquish the care of him to any of her domes- 
tics, and whatever was done for his relief, was done by 
her own hand. She watches, with unutterable anxiety, 
the progress of his disease; and often would she mingle 
the soothing expressions of a mother's love, with ear- 
nest supplications to Him who redeems life from de- 
struction ; yet all is in vain. She sees him give up the 
ghost, and all her fond anticipations perish. 

The expression in the text perhaps intimates also 
the strong attachment of this boy to his mother. As 
her tears fell on his burning forehead, he felt that if 
any thing on earth could relieve him, this would ; and 
as she pressed him to the heart, which he knew loved 
him so fondly, and as he reclined on that bosom 
where he had so often forgotten his weariness and his 
pains, it seemed to him that he had been brought to 
the arms where alone he wished to die. He changed 
not his posture, but suffered and died where he was 
first placed. 

4. The death of this young person was happy. 
We cannot suppose that a mother, so eminent for piety, 
would be indifferent about the salvation of her son, 
nor could his welfare for this world engross the anxie- 
ties of one so affectionate. We may believe that she 
had taught him to fear God; and, instructed by the 
prophet as to the divine character, she would speak of 
Him in a manner adapted to awaken love and gra- 



SERM, XVI. 



TO AN EARLY DEATH, 



titude to the Father of mercies. We may believe that 
the early indications which he gave of a devout and 
benevolent temper, were more gratifying to her than 
all the sprightliness of childhood and all the bloom of 
beauty ; and that she delighted far more in the work- 
ings of his love to God. than in the expressions of his 
attachment to herself. The persuasion which she had 
with regard to his state after death, suggests also this 
idea. She could not have said that it was well with 
the child, if she had felt the horrible suspicion that he 
was now miserable, and the victim of the second death. 
She saw how meekly he had suffered, and believed that 
he had entered into rest. 

Let bereaved parents think on the indications of 
early piety in their children who are gone, on their 
delight in prayer, their abhorrence of sin, their love of 
excellence, their admiration of the character and name 
of Jesus, and bless God for the reasons they have to 
hope that their spirits are gone to the Father. 

Let them refrain their voice from weeping, and their 
eyes from tears ; and as this Shunamite laid down her 
son on the bed ^f the man of God, let them lay their 
dead children at the feet of a living Redeemer, who 
hath a kinder heart and a more powerful arm than any 
of his prophets. At his feet they shall rest in hope, 
and in due time rise in glory. 

II. Let us now attend to some considerations adapt* 
cd to reconcile the young to an early death. 

1. Those who die in early life have many comforts 
in their last hours, from the kindness and the care of 
relatives, seldom experienced by those who die at a 
more advanced period. Many of the old outlive all 
their friends, and are left in their infirmities to the care 
of strangers, or of relatives too distant to take much 



288 THE YOUNG RECONCILED SERM. XVK 

interest in their sorrows. They often suspect that the 
attentions which are paid them are dictated by mer- 
cenary principles, and that the lamentation which be- 
wails their sufferings is the whine of hypocrisy. 

If there is nothing in their circumstances to tempt a 
covetous heart to courtesy and attention, they are often 
left to feel the want of all those ministrations, by which 
the infirmities of age might be rendered easy ; their 
ailments are aggravated by neglect or improper treat- 
ment, and their complaints are unheeded as unworthy 
of regard, or repressed by harsh and petulant reflec- 
tions. 

But they who die in early life, die amidst the af- 
fectionate sympathy of parents, and brothers, and sis- 
ters, and some of them, like this boy, on their mother's 
knees. Every expression of kindness is repeated which 
can soothe uneasiness, and every promise of mercy that 
can encourage hope. Every possible sacrifice is made 
to preserve their life, and for their eternal salvation the 
most earnest prayers are offered up.. Through the 
dreary night they watch without weariness by their 
side, happy if the sick slumber, though their eyes are 
debarred from rest. The sufferer sees, that whatever 
displeasure his folly may have occasionally excited, he 
is now the object of unmingled kindness, and that all 
around him feel as if their life was bound up in his. 
Go into the dwellings of affliction, and you will see 
how the face of a sick child brightens at a father's re- 
turn, and how its courage revives at the voice of his 
prayer. You will behold a dying child fixing its last 
look on a mother, and its last blessing resting on her 
head. Soft is that becl of sickness which the hand of 
affection smoothes, and sweet are the consolations 
which the voice of love whispers to the ears of the 
dying. 



SERM. XVI. 



TO AN EARLY DEATH. 



289 



2. Those who die in early life are not oppressed 
with those cares and griefs which embitter the latter 
end of others. Those who die in middle life are often 
harassed in their last days by the most painful anxie- 
ties about the state in which they leave their worldly af- 
fairs, and the future condition of their dependant 
friends. They feel that they are quitting them at the 
very season when their presence is most essential to 
their security and welfare, and the most gloomy fore-* 
bodings as to their future lot darken their last hour. 
And how dreadful is it for the old to look back on a 
long life stained by innumerable evils, and to think on 
the multitude of mercies which they have abused, and 
of the many opportunities of salvation which they have 
neglected ! Even when there is a well-grounded hope 
of mercy, there are also painful feelings of remorse ; 
and this has been the language of many a pious old 
man, " O my God, I blush, and am ashamed to lift 
up myself before thee, O my God, for my iniquities 
have gone over my head, and my trespass hath reach- 
ed to the heavens !" 4 His bones are felt to be full of 
the sins of youth, and the heart bleeds at the remem- 
brance of the injurious influence of his conduct on 
others in the days of his folly, which no amendment or 
zeal can now counteract or repair. 

The days of age are evil days, in which men find no 
pleasure. It was an affecting counsel of one who lived 
to an uncommon old age, to the young whom she saw 
around her, " Let your prayer be that your life may 
be good, but desire not that it may be long." The 
young often ascribe the complaints of age to fretful 
humour rather than to real suffering ; but it is a period 
where much misery is borne, and more is often feared. 



4 Ezra ix. 6. 
2 B 



290 THE YOUNG RECONCILED SERM. XVI. 

It is the evening of life, cold and cheerless, and its 
gloominess is often deepened by the gathering storm. 

But those who die in early life, have no such cares 
to agitate them ; and though they must feel the pangs 
of repentance, yet these are gentle in comparison of 
the horrors of the aged transgressor. Acute pain may 
make you cry " my head, my head but you know 
not that aching of the heart through solicitude and re- 
morse, which is often felt by those whose life is pro- 
longed. It may grieve you to part with your friends, 
and the kindness you receive from them in death will 
render them peculiarly dear to your hearts, and make 
you say, " I never loved them more than when I am 
now to leave them but from their advanced life they 
will soon join you ; yet a little while, and they will rest 
from their griefs by your side. And think not that it 
is a severer pang to part with life now than w r ould be 
felt afterwards; for the eagerness to live generally 
strengthens as men advance in years, and Providence 
has thus wisely regulated this attachment, as otherwise 
existence would not be endured by many under the 
burdens and disgusts of age. 

3. Consider that far nobler pleasures than any 
which long life could yield you will be enjoyed by 
you in heaven. The pleasures of the world wear a 
very alluring form to the eye of youth ; but if you will 
believe the testimony of those who have enjoyed them, 
they are deceitful and vain. This testimony is borne 
not only by those whose minds have been enlightened 
and purified by religion, but by those who still wish 
to find happiness m earthly things. Even though we 
should admit that these pleasures were ail that the gay 
heart of youth imagines, they cannot for one moment 
be compared to those which af% at God's right hand. 
When vou turn aw?.y vour eves firm all that the 



SERM, XVI; TO AN EARLY DEATH* 

world can offer, and fix them upon the joys of immor- 
tality, you act not the part of the unfeeling cynic, 
or the delirious visionary, but of the wise man, who 
reckons that neither the pleasures nor the sufferings 
of the present time are worthy to be compared with 
the glory that shall be revealed.. 

In the world to which an early death conducts the, 
pious, there are pleasures which never cloy, treasures 
which fail not, and honours which never fade away. 
There, no discontent murmurs, and no sorrow weeps. 
There, no disappointment is ever felt, and no fears can 
ever arise. Listen to faith opposing its conclusions to 
all the boasts of the carnal mind, and saying, What is 
the pomp of this vain world to the glory of the Ma- 
jesty-on-high* and what the attractions of this earthly 
scene where death reigns, to the beauties of that para- 
dise into which it can never enter ? The endearments 
of home, so sweet to a virtuous heart, are far exceeded 
by the communion of your Father's house ; and this 
system of creation, grand and beautiful in spite of all 
the traces of the fall, has no glory in comparison of 
the land of Emmanuel, where the sun never goes down, 
and the verdure never decays, where the perfection of 
beauty glows, and righteousness and peace for eve£ 
dwell. 

4. The purposes for which the wise and the good 
would wish to live, will be more effectually and com- 
pletely answered in heaven. You desire to live that 
you may glorify God. In heaven you shall serve 
him day and night in his temple, without one languid 
moment, or one vain thought, and in the midst of 
worshippers whose hearts are burning with fervours 
equal to your own. You wish to live to acquire use- 
ful and ornamental knowledge, but in heaven " you 



THE YOUNG RECONCILED SERM. XVI. 

shall see light in God's light/' and obtain even on 
your admission a degree of information as much above 
what you could have acquired by the study of a long 
life, as the intelligence of the man of science is supe- 
rior to that of a child. You wish to live to witness 
the glorious and happy changes for which Providence 
seems preparing the way, that era of light and liberty, 
peace and virtue, for which a world polluted with 
crimes and bleeding with miseries hath long sighed; 
but in heaven the counsels of Jehovah shall be made 
known to you, and the prosperity of Christ's kingdom 
on earth shall be one of the themes of your song on 
high. 

You wish to live to be useful to your friends, to 
reward your kind parents for all that they have done 
for you, and to be their support in the season of their 
decay. But the God whom they have served will 
not cast them off in the time of their old age, neither 
will he forsake them when their strength fails. Some 
have represented departed children as acting the part 
of ministering angels to the parents they have left. 
This is only a pleasing dream; but the Scriptures au- 
thorize us to say that they are gone to heaven to 
elevate their hearts the more to it, that when their 
parents fail they will receive them into everlasting ha- 
bitations, and that in the day of the Lord they will be 
their glory and joy. 

You wish to live to advance the interests of reli- 
gion in the world, and to do good to your fellow-crea- 
tures, but your removal shews that Providence has 
other instruments than you to employ in these labours 
of love. Still your early life and death, adorned by 
the Christian graces, may have more influence in al- 
luring others to goodness than your after exertions 



SERM. XVI. TO AN EARLY DEATH. 2<)3 

could have had ; and if the wish and purpose to do 
good be sincere, God will accept it as if it had been 
carried into effect. 

The excellencies of the young who have died in the 
Lord, have been often employed in recommending re- 
ligion, and in many cases with great success. There 
are various narratives of this kind published to the 
world, and there have been many besides these, thus 
celebrated, whose memory powerfully stimulates to 
goodness in the private circles where they were known. 
Allow me t© mention a late instance from good au- 
thority. A young person distinguished for many ac- 
complishments, and who at an early age left without a 
sigh the world which was opening before her in all the 
attractions which wealth, education, and connections 
could give it, intreated her mother to resign her to 
Him who was now calling her to heaven. When it 
was hinted to her how dreadfully the intelligence of 
her death would shock her absent father, she express- 
ed her hope that God would enable him to submit to 
his will without repining. An only sister asked her, 
if there was any thing that she wished her to do, 
as it would give her a melancholy pleasure to fulfil 
her parting trust. " Do all the good that you can," 
was the reply ; a reply breathing the spirit of a bene- 
ficent Redeemer, and seeking its memorials in the 
care of the helpless orphan and in the comforts of the 
house of want. For an hour or two before her depar- 
ture her speech failed, yet her looks indicated ho\r 
earnestly her heart was employed in. prayer, and her 
faltering voice was heard by an attending friend, ut- 
tering again and again the word " mercy thus expres- 
sing at once the earnestness of supplication and the 
assurance of hope. Angels surround such a death- 
bed, and while mourning . friends struggle to detain 



294? THE YOUNG RECONCILED SERM. XVI. 

the dying relative then felt doubly dear, the heavenly 
messengers are saying, "Sister spirit, come away/' 
and when the last prayer is made, " Lord Jesus re- 
ceive my soul/' they convey it to his joy. Well may 
the pious call the young to such a tomb- stone, and bid 
them read the memorial of youthful excellence^ and 
while the starting tear shews how the heart is melted, 
say to them, " Go and do likewise/' 

I shall conclude the discourse with some reflections 
and counsels. 

Let the young remember, that it is only to religious 
youth that early death is a privilege, and that if any 
die unrenewed in the spirit of their minds, they must 
perish at whatever period they may quit the world. 
The earlier the wicked die, they are the sooner in hell ; 
and though their torment will not be so aggravated as 
that of the hoary headed transgressor, still it will be 
misery, agonizing misery, from which it is your wis- 
dom instantly to flee while escape is possible. O let 
the young, who are still under the power of sin, have 
recourse to the blood and to the grace of Jesus, and 
let them ply the work of their salvation with all their 
might. And let pious young persons improve every 
day in holiness. Advance as far as possible in the 
Divine life, that should your removal be early, you 
may deserve the character of being eminent in good- 
ness though young in years. 

Let this subject comfort the young in the death of 
their companions. It is better for them to die than 
to live. And the time is coming, when, instead of the 
grief which you now feel for their loss, you may per- 
haps regret that you died not as early as they did. 
" Why died I not/' said Job, " from the womb, why did 
I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly ? 



SERM. XVI. TO AN EARLY DEATH. 295 

Why did the knees prevent me, or why the breasts 
that I should suck ? For now should I have been still 
and been quiet, I should have slept then had I been at 
rest." 5 

Let this subject reconcile parents to the death of 
pious children. Their gain you see is far, far above 
all that they have lost, and in the thought of it you 
ought to forget your losses. Listen not to the voice of 
nature alone ; say not, why am I not to have my chil- 
dren as the comforts of my old age, like others ; God 
can give you more advantage by their death than you 
could have had by their life ; and he who raised the 
widow of Nam's son, and delivered him to his mother, 
will in due time restore them to you. 

Let this subject also excite us instantly to perform 
every office necessary for the instruction and the im- 
provement of the young. While we delay, they de- 
part, and are no more in the world. The kindness 
we mean to shew them to-morrow may be offered to a 
hand that cannot receive it, and to a heart that is past 
feeling. The admonition you intend to give to-mor- 
row may be superseded by their removal to their final 
account. 

This subject calls you, my young brethren, to be- 
ware of injuring one another. You may do your com- 
panions a wrong which death will not allow you to re- 
pair, or them to receive the offered reparation. Delay 
not your reconciliation to those with whom you are at 
variance ; let not the sun go down upon your wrath. 
Should they be suddenly removed by death, how bitter 
will be your feelings ! In vain will you grasp the cold 
hand, no returning pressure will tell you that they are 
at peace with you. You may look on the countenance^ 



* Job iii. 11—13. 



290 THE YOUNG RECONCILED, &C SERM. XVI. 

the fire of anger is gone, but amidst the ghastly pale- 
ness of death, you will seek in vain for the soft ex- 
pression, of reviving kindness. You may lament and 
condemn the folly and madness of your conduct, but 
you will speak to the insensate clay. How terrible 
will be the thought as you approach their grave, or 
come near it in fancy, " There lie those whose last 
hour my displeasure embittered, and who died in 
peace with all but me V- Let not your quarrels be 
marked by that fierce and implacable animosity which 
too often characterises the contests of advanced life; 
" In malice be ye children, but in wisdom be ye men." 

In a word, let those whose days have been prolong- 
ed, reflect on the summons which they shall soon 
receive, " Give an account of thy stewardship, for 
thou must be no longer steward/' 6 And when God 
calls you into judgment, what will you answer for so 
many sins, so many days lost in indolence and folly> 
so many restraints disregarded, and so many blessings 
abused ? O flee to that Saviour who is abJe to save to 
the uttermost. Repent and turn to God, and do 
works that are meet for repentance." His Spirit will 
not always strive with men. This may be his last ef- 
fort, and if it is repelled he may depart to return no 
more. And let those who have feared God from their 
youth be zealous in good works, and let them still 
bring forth fruit in old age. Thus shall they come 
to their graves in a full age as a shock of corn cometlr 
in in his season." 7 



e Luke xvi. 



» Job v. 2Q.> 



SERM. XVII. THE YOUNG WARNED/ &C. 



297 



SERMON XVII. 

THE YOUNG WARNED AGAINST VICIOUS PASSIONS* 



H Tim. ii. 2£. 
" Flee youthful lusts." 

nr\ 

A he letters of Paul to Timothy exhibit him to us in 
the character of a judicious and affectionate friend. 
We perceive in reading them, that, amidst the care of 
all the churches, and the zeal and the courage which 
could brave martyrdom for the honour of his Lord, 
his heart was alive to the tenderest feelings of friend- 
ship. He felt the kindest solicitude for the success of 
Timothy as a minister, and for his happiness as a 
man, and counsels and admonishes him as a father 
would the child of his hopes. 

This epistle was written by Paul in his old age, yet 
he completely avoids both of the extremes into which 
the aged are prone to run in their admonitions. Some 
of them, from a peevish and suspicious temper, and 
from their frequent experience of the ingratitude, the 
folly, and the wickedness of the world, give their coun- 
sels in a manner so stern and jealous, that the young 



298 



THE YGUNG WARNED SERM. XVI2. 



are affronted, and irritated at finding their sincerity in 
virtue questioned, and their indiscretions magnified 
into crimes. Others, from a blind and doting partiality, 
deem their favourites infallible, and avoid as an insult 
to the wisdom of their attachment, and to the moral 
principles of their young friends, all cautions against 
the pollutions of the world. But while the apostle 
expresses his confidence in the piety and virtuous feel- 
ings of Timothy, he deems it necessary to warn him 
against those corrupt propensities, by the indulgence 
of which so many of the young have been ruined, 
and from the influence of which even the most esta- 
blished in holiness require to keep their hearts with all 
diligence. And if it was said by Paul to such a man, 
u Flee youthful lusts," no young person before me 
ought to imagine that to him the warning is not ne- 
cessary. 

In this discourse I shall endeavour to guard the 
young against the influence of these vicious principles, 
which at their period of life often manifest such a fatal 
predominance. 

1. The young ought to shun all impurity. Though 
there are some old men who live after the flesh, and 
the lewdness of whose language indicates that the fire 
of impure desire is burning under the snows of age, 
yet the young are peculiarly prone to this sin, from the 
ardour of their imaginations, and the impetuosity of 
their passions. Impure excesses are often called by 
the soft names of pleasure and gallantry, but the Scrip- 
tures will not accommodate their awful precepts to the 
loose conceptions- of a degenerate age, and stigmatize 
them by the odious epithets which their vileness de- 
serves. « Fornication and all uncleanness, let it not 



SERM. XVII. AGAINST VICIOUS PASSIONS. 

once be named among you as becometh saints 1 and 
if it be unworthy of Christians to speak of these sins in 
a light manner, and if it be dangerous to talk of them 
at all without necessity, lest the frequent mention of 
them should lessen the horror with which they ought 
to be regarded, it must be a base degradation of their 
character to commit them. The Scriptures represent 
sensual impurity as peculiarly offensive to the Spirit of 
God, and as tending more than any other sin to de« 
prave the heart. 

The libertine is sometimes spoken of as an ho- 
nourable and a generous man, and as having a better 
heart and a stronger sense of integrity, than the ill- 
natured zealots who so bitterly condemn him ; but 
what honour or generosity hath he who robs the vic- 
tim of his passion of a treasure more valuable than the 
wealth of the world, who scruples at no falsehoods 
which must be told to accomplish his purpose, who 
can laugh at the credulity that believed his protesta- 
tions, and abandon to poverty and shame those to 
whom he had vowed protection and kindness ? 

It is for this sin that the wrath of God comes on the 
slaves of corruption, and it is often punished even in 
this world. Many a young man, in order to gratify 
the rapacity of the strange woman by whom his heart 
has faeen ensnared, has pilfered the property of his 
employers, and ended on a scaffold, or in a land of 
exile, a life which might have passed away in affluence 
and credit. Visit the youthful criminal, whom the so- 
litude of a dungeon, and the terrors of death, have 
brought to sober reflection. How hateful to his eye 
appears the wretch who hurried him to ruin, and those 
'hours and scenes in which his heart was lost in folly ! 



1 Eph. v. 3. 



300 



THE YOUNG WARNED SERM. XVII. 



The form of a virtuous mother rises from the grave 
before him, and says with a voice that wrings the 
heart, " Did I cherish thy infancy for the destroyer, 
and have thy parent's counsels heen forgotten amid 
the harlot's wiles ?" Alas ! her dark forebodings have 
been fatally realized, and the son whom she would 
have died to save can only think of the peace and 
hope of her last hour, to aggravate the horrors of his 
own. 

The consequences of impurity with regard to the 
-other sex, have been as dismal as these. Young wo- 
men, whose beauty was the pride of a parent's heart, 
have, by listening to the flatteries of a vile seducer, 
been bereft of their innocence and peace ; scorned by 
the world, and rejected by their friends, they seek a 
support in the wages of prostitution, and finish their 
career of vice and wretchednes, in misery too horrid 
for description. O that the young, when tempted to 
impurity, and when virtuous resolution is staggering, 
would call up to view their emaciated form once so 
lovely, their sunk eye once so sparkling, their broken 
heart once so gay, and it would be the preservative of 
their innocence ! 

Though such tragical effects of impurity were rare, 
its common result is such, as should make you think 
of it v/ith abhorrence. It enfeebles the powers of the 
mind, and its corrupting associations mingle with all 
their movements. It creates a disrelish for every ra- 
tional enjoyment, stupifies the conscience, renders the 
heart callous to every salutary feeling, and so confirms 
the power of the unclean spirit over it, that few devo- 
ted to this sin are ever brought to repentance. To be 
carnally minded is death, and living after the flesh shall 
be punished by the severest torments in the place of 
woe. 



SERM. XVII. AGAINST VICIOUS PASSIONS. 



301 



In order to guide the young in fleeing from impuri- 
ty, the following counsels may be suggested. Beware 
of indulging vicious imaginations in your hearts ; for 
these will indispose you for resisting temptation, and 
the wish and the purpose of impurity are, in the sight 
of God, the commission of it in the heart. Flatter not 
yourselves that these tendencies of heart shall never be 
known. There are a variety of ways in which they 
may be discovered to your shame ; and though they 
should never be known to men in this world, they are 
seen and abhorred by a holy Goof. 

Cultivate a relish for intellectual and moral plea- 
sures ; for a heart influenced by these, will scorn all 
that the flesh can offer. Let your minds often meditate 
on the divine excellencies, and on the employments and 
the bliss of creatures in a state of perfection. Be ac- 
tively employed in the pursuit of knowledge, and in the 
practice of beneficence. The corrupt propensities of the 
heart, gather strength amidst idleness and fulness of 
bread, and are most effectually repressed by regular in- 
dustry, and a firm and persevering temperance. Reflect 
frequently on the grand design of the gospel, which was 
revealed to save us from the detestable impurities of 
Paganism, and to make us partakers of a divine nature. 
Christianity hath destroyed abominations, to which 
blinded nations were strongly devoted, and which were 
incorporated with their rites of worship ; and wherever 
it comes in its power, it makes the body the temple of 
the Holy Ghost, and its members instruments of right- 
eousness. 

Let the books which you read be of a grave and 
moral cast. The loose dialogues of plays are unfit to 
be perused, as well as heard, by those who wish to 
keep themselves unspotted from the world. Even the 
best written works of fancy should be read with can- 



302 THE YOUNG WARNED SERM. XVII. 

tion ; for they are filled with the emotions and the lan- 
guage of passion, and may engage the mind in trains 
of thought and feeling, unsuited to that superiority to 
earthly desires and gratifications to which religion 
commands us to aspire. 

At meetings for mirth and jollity you need to be 
watchful. Some have relaxed their vigilance amidst 
the levity and dissipation of such scenes, and have fall- 
en into crimes from which they thought themselves se- 
cure. No evil was probably intended by those who re- 
paired to them ; but the heart hath been secretly enti- 
ced, and the folly of a day hath been bewailed through- 
out years of sorrow. When you go to the Jiouse of 
mirth, be courteous and cheerful, but prudent and cau- 
tious. Repress, with the courage of indignant virtue, 
that coarse language, and those indelicate jests, which 
the insolence of depravity may employ in your presence, 
hate even the garment spotted by the flesh, dread the 
appearance of evil, and watch and pray that you enter 
not into temptation. 

2d, The young ought to beware of intemperance. It 
may be thought, that this is rather the vice of persons 
in more advanced periods of life, yet too many of the 
young have been its slaves. It has been said, that a 
tendency to this sin has been discovered by some even 
in a state of adolescence ; and there have been persons, 
who have encouraged what they should have repressed 
with horror. The condition of such early victims of 
vice is most pitiable ; and enormous is their guilt, who 
furnish them with that which hurries them to mischief, 
or degrades them into brutes. What a malignant prin- 
ciple is the love of gain, which can make persons take 
the earnings from the labourer, which ought to be laid 
out for bread to a helpless family ; and the money 

4 



SERM. XVII. AGAINST VICIOUS PASSIONS. 



503 



which children have pilfered from parents, that they 
may consume it on their lusts ! 

As the young, advance in life, there are many who 
are eager to allure them to the haunts of dissipation. 
They laugh at their sober scruples, and by the jovial 
song, the licentious toast, and the circling glass, lead 
thenr on to the excess of riot. Many an anxious mo- 
ther has watched for the return of her son to her dwel- 
ling. Fear, and sorrow banish every tendency to sleep, 
and her tears are seen, and her counsels are heard, 
when she remonstrates with him only to be scorned, 
or, if they are regarded, it is only till the next solicita- 
tion calls him again to folly. 

There is no habit more ruinous to the worldly inter- 
ests of the young than this. For what employment is 
the drunkard fit ? Influence, or money, may place 
him in the most advantageous situation, but he will 
soon be turned out of it with disgrace. Powerful inter- 
cession, and the promises of amendment, may make 
some be retained in situations which they have deser- 
ved to lose ; but the efforts and trials of a generous pa- 
tience are found fruitless, and only shew more com- 
pletely the worthlessness of the drunkard's character, and 
the folly of all expectations of his amendment. 

What intellectual accomplishment will such a man 
cultivate, or what taste can he have for aught that is 
great or beautiful in sentiment or speculation ? His 
only aim is to qualify himself for that low humour, and 
those idle details, which he considers as the life of his 
social hours. Such a man can feel no true satisfaction 
of mind, while he is conscious of the disapprobation 
with which his conduct is viewed. He knows that the 
applauses of his loose associates are no test of public 
favour, but the reverse. The more they extol his ex- 
cesses, the more they will be condemned by the wise 



504; 



THE YOUNG WARNED 



SERM. XVIIr 



and the virtuous in the community. Intoxication may 
hush his conscience to silence, but returning sobriety 
will bring its challenges to his pillow. The deepest 
h.orror often marks the sober hours of such a man, and 
is felt so intolerable, that he is glad to stupify his reason 
to escape from its pangs. Intemperance excites the li- 
centious and irritable passions, and often hurries to acts 
of lewdness, and to bloody quarrels. The consequen- 
ces of this habit are dreadful in families. There is no 
practice so likely to break the heart of a virtuous part- 
ner, or to degrade and corrupt the minds of children. 
Young men returning from their labour to a home, 
which by this habit m parents is rendered utterly com- 
fortless, have left it in disgust for places where they 
were mingled with the profligate, and ensnared by their 
arts. Such is the power of this vice, that it has borne 
down before it the fear of shame, the restraints of mo- 
desty, and the powerful claims of parental love. In 
concealing and palliating intemperance, truth is often 
violated, and to gratify it, the most necessary articles 
of domestic comfort are sacrificed. The husband a beg- 
gar, the wife miserable, the children vagabonds, and 
the habitation naked and gloomy as the dungeon, have 
been the results of this dreadful propensity. 

There are servants, who, to gratify this lust, will steal 
the liquors, or pilfer fife money of their master. While 
in a state of intoxication, they may injure materially 
the furniture and property of the family, and children 
committed to their care, have borne through life the 
traces of what they suffered from the neglect, the fury, 
and the base associations of servants addicted to this 
vice. 

The punishment of this sin in a future world* is de- 
scribed in the Bible in the most dreadful language, 



SERM. Iff*. AGAINST VICIOUS PASSIONS. 



305 



** Drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God." 2 
The cup of the Lord's fury is prepared for them, and 
they shall wring out the dregs of it, and drink them. 

To preserve you from this odious practice, I exhort 
you to associate with the wise and the grave, and to 
cultivate a taste for reading, and for improving con- 
versation. The time will pass far more sweetly away, 
and give far more pleasure on reflection, which is spent 
in a course of judicious reading, and in intercourse 
with men of sense and experience, than that which is 
wasted in rioting and drunkenness. 

Reflect frequently on the advantages of sobriety, on 
its favourable influence on the health of the body, 
and the cheerfulness of the mind ; how it will fit 3^011 
for activity in business, secure you the confidence of 
the world, and enable you to devote the earnings of in- 
dustry, to the obtaining of that which will yield coin-- 
fort to yourselves, and to your relations. 

There is not a more pernicious maxim than this, 
that a sober young man is a dunce, and that intemper- 
ance in youth is the fault of genius. If young men of 
talents have fallen into this habit, they have sunk into 
contempt from which no ability could save them, and 
the vigour of judgment, and the fire of genius, have 
been quickly extinguished. We look at the ashes, and 
think with a sigh what they might have been but for 
this vice. Sobriety in youth is the mark of wisdom, 
and will lead to that prudent employment of time and 
talents which must conduct to estimation and success. 

3d, The young should guard against pride and va- 
nity. The influence of these principles is easily seen. 
It is visible in the contempt with which inferiors are 
treated, in the anxiety which is shewn to exhibit what 



2 1 Cor. vi. 10* 



806 



THE YOUNG WARNED 



SERM. XVII, 



are deemed superior accomplishments, in eagerness af- 
ter ornament, in delight in flattery, in the irritation 
expressed when their plans are thwarted, in impatience 
of contradiction, in the boldness with which established 
opinions are attacked, and the wildest speculations 
maintained, in the disregard of advice, and in the ne- 
glect and even rudeness which the aged have too often 
to bear. 

Against such a spirit I would earnestly caution you. 
Think how unreasonable pride and vanity are. The 
excellencies on which men value themselves, may exist 
only in their own partial imaginations, or, if they are 
real, they are the unmerited gifts of the divine bounty. 
It is most offensive to God, to see men vaunting them* 
selves of his bounties, as if they were the result of their 
own efforts ; exulting in wealth and grandeur, as if 
u riches and honour did net come of him f in intellec- 
tual acquirements, as if it was not his inspiration that 
gave understanding ; and in personal accomplishments, 
as if they owed nothing whatever to their Creator for 
these. 

Consider that the continuance of these accomplish- 
ments is uncertain. All the goodliness of men, as to 
the endowments of the mind and the comeliness of the 
body, is transient like the vapour. You have seen in 
your short experience of the world, many affecting in- 
stances of brilliant talents blasted by disease or corrup- 
tion, and the charms of beauty fading in the spring of 
life. The finest attire will soon be succeeded by the 
winding-sheet ; and the form distinguished for elegance 
and beauty must soon be r * buried out of sight." 

The spirit of vanity and pride exposes the young to 
many temptations. The love of singularity in opinion 
may lead you to pervert the gospel, and your contempt 
of the counsels and the warnings of the wise may leave 
you without a check to the influence of your passions. 



SERM. XVII. AGAINST VICIOUS PASSIONS. 



307 



Many a young man in ruin and despair, hath cursed 
the madness which made him despise advice, and rush 
furiously to destruction from the arms that were stretch- 
ed out to stop him. Some young persons have been 
lured by flatteries of their beauty into the snare of the 
destroyer ; and some, eager to surpass others in splen- 
did attire, have sought it by methods that have cover- 
ed them with disgrace. 

A young man's excessive estimation of his own ac- 
quirements, will effectually check the pursuit of excel- 
lence. They will make no efforts for improvement, 
who think themselves eminent already. " Seest thou a 
man wise in his own conceit, there is more hope of a 
fool than of him." 3 And remember that pride goeth 
before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall in- 
to shame and calamity here, and into the condemnation 
of the devil hereafter. 

Consider what an ornament humility is to youth. 
Mistake not the nature of this grace. It lies hot in that 
baseness and imbecility of spirit, which will permit 
others to trample upon you, and lead you to meannesses 
that will degrade you ; but in that modest sense of 
your own deficiencies, which will be a powerful incen- 
tive to improvement, and that deference to the just 
claims of others, which will conciliate their confidence 
and regard. Humility in the young is like the cover- 
ing of the early bud, which screens it from injury, pre- 
vents that premature display of its beauty which would 
be its destruction, and prepares it for future fragrance 
and glory in its fit season. 

Often contemplate the character of the Lord Jesus, 
who, amid the splendour of his miracles, the homage 
of the multitude, and the brightest testimonies of hea- 
ven to his dignity, was meek and lowly in heart* You 
may be led into habits and practices foolish and dan** 
5 Prov. xxvi. 12» 



THE YOUNG WARNED SEH^I. XVIi.* 



gerous, by a desire to imitate the manners of your com- 
panions ; but efforts to resemble Christ, will engage you 
in the culture of every principle that can improve and 
bless you* 

Discourage the injudicious praise which may be ap- 
plied to you. Teachers have often, by the methods 
which they employed to excite emulation, encouraged 
diligence at the expense of fostering vanity and pride ; 
and parents by their encomiums, have cherished ideas 
in the young, of their claims to notice and success in 
life, which have produced heart-breaking disappoint- 
ment ; or have made them, because a sphere was not 
opened to them to which they thought themselves en- 
titled, spend their days in fretful indolence, or in that 
sullen discharge of the duties of inferior stations, which 
is neither satisfactory to their employers, nor creditable 
to themselves. 

I leave this part of the subject, by calling you to 
contemplate the many instances around you of early 
decay in young persons of the fairest promise. To you, 
a parents tears, the tombstone of a companion, and the 
pallid hue of beauty sinking under the power of dis- 
ease, cannot call in vain, " Be not high minded, but 
fear." 4 

4th, The young must guard against envy. This is 
a passion which frequently works in the bosoms of the 
young. It may be seen writhing the features of infan- 
cy, when children are presented before them possessing 
what they have not and cannot obtain ; and it operates 
violently in seminaries of education. Many of the 
quarrels in schools originate in envy. Contentions ari- 
sing from other causes may be quickly terminated ; but 
those which" envy prompts are renewed at every fresh 
mark of favour ; or display of excellence; and they of- 



* Rom. si. 20. 



sERM. XVII. AGAINST VICIOUS PASSIONS. 



309 



ten rage through life. Teachers ought to strive to sub- 
due this spirit, and to cherish in its place contentment, 
modesty, and benevolence. 

Envy totally destroys all the feelings of charity to* 
ward those to whom its malignant eye is directed, and 
it stirs up calumny and falsehood to depreciate that ex- 
cellence, the blaze of which it cannot bear, and to les- 
sen the admiration which it has excited in the minds of 
others. Is a young man applauded for any thing that 
is excellent? it is eager to mention some circumstance, 
to shew that he has no just claim to praise. How mi- 
serable is the heart that is under the influence of envy ! 
Its victim can take no pleasure in any advantage of his 
own,, because it equals not that of his neighbour. Tell 
him that his comforts are many, that his appear- 
ances have been respectable, and that his prospects ar$ 
flattering, he feels that these compliments belong to his 
rival and not to him. The eye of envy sees nothing 
but roses in a rival's path, and nothing but thorns in 
its own. 

There is no temper which the united voice of men 
has more strongly stigmatized than this, and none 
which is considered as a more certain indication of a base 
and wicked heart. There are some vices, at the charge 
of which many feel little indignation ; but who can 
bear to be represented as envious ? Men deem this as 
making them vile indeed. 

To guard you against envy, consider how impious it 
is. It is against the wisdom and the justice of the ap- 
pointments of heaven that the envious spirit rises. 
Shall we charge Providence with blind partiality in the 
distribution of its gifts? Shall our eye be evil because 
his is good ? Shall a dependant on Jehovah's bounty 
prescribe to him how to apportion his favours ? 

Think of its ingratitude. All the blessings which 



510 



THE YOUNG WARNED SERM. XVII. 



God has lavished on the envious man seem as nothing, 
because another is his superior. At the very time when 
his spirit is raging at another's superiority, he himself 
is probably the object of envy to an inferior for the ad- 
vantages which he despises. 

Think of the folly of an envious temper. The man 
tvhom the envious deem so fortunate, might be the ob- 
ject of their pity were they fully aware of his situation. 
The brilliance of his literary acquisitions is the result 
of excessive application, which is perhaps impairing his 
health, and dooming him to an early grave. Perhaps 
the affection that smiles on him, cannot suppress the 
ranklings of jealousy. The prospects that appear so 
enchanting, may perhaps present to him many objects 
which excite in his mind the most gloomy forebodings. 
To outward view, his circumstances exhibit every 
thing that is fortunate and desirable ; but the heart of- 
ten sighs under the clearest sunshine of fortune, and 
the pillow of the bed of down has been watered with 
tears. 

Consider also, that in indulging envy, men cherish a 
principle which will banish from the bosom all the im- 
pressions and purposes of kindness and humanity, and 
which gives to the spirit not only the ferocity of the 
savage, but the malignity of a demon. It was this 
temper that steeled the hearts of the Pharisees to all 
our Lord's claims to their kindness, and led them to 
the most horrid deed of wickedness and cruelty that 
ever was committed. " Pilate knew that from envy 
they had delivered him up." 5 Envy has thrown fire- 
brands into the dwellings of love and peace ; laboured 
to make those miserable together whose union it could 
not prevent ; thrust the knife of assassination ; and 



5 Math, xxvii. IS. 



SERM. XVH. AGAINST VICIOUS PASSIONS, 



811 



perverted law and justice to compass an opponent's 
ruin. 

Reject also on the misery of the envious. It strips 
their comforts of all their power to please, and gives to 
their vexations a tenfold degree of severity. It fixes 
them on the rack of unceasing torture, and fills their 
cup with wormwood. The envious will either teach 
their friends to think and feel as they do, or if this 
cannot be accomplished, their kinder sentiments and 
wishes will be felt as a reproach and a torment. But 
happy are they who live in charity to their neighbours. 
If you love your neighbours as yourselves, you will 
make their honour and happiness, your own, and the 
kindness of God to them will swell your grateful ac- 
knowledgments for your own comforts. The shadow 
which the envious curse as concealing them, you will 
bless as your shelter from the burning heat. The course 
which another pursues before you, which envy says re* 
presses your ardour, and impedes your progress, you 
will regard as smoothing the way, and illuminating 
your path by its blaze. 

- Remember the generous spirit of Christ, and learn to 
feel and to act as he did. He saw the happiness of 
angels, and generously established it. He saw the 
wickedness of men, and humbled himself to the death 
of the cross to save them. Amidst all the toil, po- 
verty, and reproach, in which he lived, he never cast 
one envious look at the wealth, the ease, or the influence 
of his enemies, however unworthy they were of these. 
Let that heart be in you that was in Christ Jesus. 

In concluding this discourse, I must state to the youngs 
that they should not imagine that these are the only 
evil principles against which it is necessary for them to 
guard. You must watch against every sinful passion, 
and every vicious practice. I have limited my re* 



312 



THE YOUNG WARNED 



SERM. XVII. 



marks to those principles which in general most strong- 
ly influence the young. Implore that illumination of the 
Holy Ghost, which will enable you to discern, in trie 
clearest manner, the odious nature of these sins against 
which I have warned you, and the beauty and value of 
the opposite virtues. Beware of speaking or thinking 
of them under the soft appellations by which they are 
sometimes mentioned by worldly men. They will talk 
of impurity and drunkenness as the gratifications of 
nature, and the enjoyment of its pleasures ; of pride, 
as the respect which we owe to ourselves; and of envy, 
as the disgust which the mind feels at the unmerited 
success of imbecility or wickedness. But let us con- 
sider them in the light of the Divine law, and as stript 
of every palliation. Remember in what light they ap- 
peared to conscience when you were first tempted to 
commit them, and the horror with which you then 
shrunk from the temptation. That sensibility you 
ought never to lose, for it is your honour and your 
safety. 

It is of much importance for the young to consider^ 
that if these be the habits of their youth, it is like- 
ly they will rule over them through life. If you yield 
yourselves to their power, in spite of the earnest re- 
monstrances of your own hearts, you will make no ef- 
forts for freedom when you are familiarized to vice, 
and conscience struggles no longer. Indulgence in 
these vices will bring on a premature old age. Envy 
is the rottenness of the bones. Sensuality consumes 
the strength. Who hath trembling of hands and red- 
ness of eyes, and the gloomy vapours of a disordered 
imagination ? It is the man that has spent the vigour 
of his youth in sensual excesses. 

Endeavour to guard one another against these ex« 
cesses. When the middle-aged or the old warn the 



SERM. XVII. AGAINST VICIOUS PASSIONS. 315 

young against them, it is deemed the language of a 
heart which cannot bear that others should taste the plea- 
sures from which it is debarred ; but when you are 
admonished by companions at the same ardent period 
of life with yourselves, the caution will probably be 
better received and improved. 

In a word, Remember that the most effectual preser- 
vative from all youthful lusts, is the regeneration of 
your natures. Implore the God of all grace to form 
in you these holy principles of thought, of desire, and 
of pursuit, by which the works of the flesh will be sub- 
dued. Fix your attention on the urgency of the 
Apostle's injunction in the text. Avoid the scene of 
iniquity, and never think that you can be too far re- 
moved from temptations to it. It is like the call to 
Lot in Sodom, " Escape for thy life." And shall you 
linger when God commands you to make haste? Shall 
you cleave to that which he commands you to shun ? 
It is the call of wisdom and affection, of your Saviour 
and your Judge, and I trust you will obey it. " And 
may the God ©f peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray 
God that your whole spirit, and soul, and body, may 
be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord." 7 

? 1 Thess. v. 23. 



SB 



TH E YOU KG C A L LED TO £ £ R M. XV 1 1 1. 



SERMON XVIII. 

THE YOUNG CALLED TO FOLLOW DEPARTED 
SAINTS. 



Heb. vi. 

«* We desire that ye be followers 
patience inherit 



11, 12. 

of them who through faith and 
the promises."" 



There is something sacred in the idea of departed 
worth, which almost every heart feels. The illustrious 
men of former ages, whose virtues are exhibited in the 
page of history, excite a strong interest in every suc- 
ceeding generation, and the study of their characters is 
found one of the best methods for strengthening the love 
of excellence in the jrouthful heart. In their virtues, 
genius has found a theme worthy of its powers, and on 
which it may employ, without reproach, its fair co* 
lours and its glowing praise. But the memory of the 
good whom we knew and loved, is still dearer to us 
than theirs. With the idea of their worth, we con- 
nect the interest which they took in our happiness, the 
credit we derived from them, and the loss we have 
sustained in being deprived of their society and their 
counsels. Their excellencies appear to us in brighter 



SERM. XVIII. FOLLOW DEPARTED SAINTS. 



S15 



colours than ever, and purified from all the infirmities 
with which we formerly saw them mingled. We re* 
fleet with bitter regret on our own folly in profiting so 
little by their holy pattern, and resolve that it shall be 
the study of our lives to resemble them. 

Such are usually the feelings and purposes of men 
in the first meltings of sorrow for the removal of the 
good, and it is to be lamented that they are often 
so transient. The virtues of the dead are soon for- 
gotten amidst the gaieties of the living. The course 
of this world leads many astray, and the backslider 
shuns the memorials of the dead because he cannot 
think of them without self-reproach. Against such 
fatal defection, religion warns us, and calls us to the 
persevering and zealous imitation of departed saints-; 
and the Christian, in the humblest scenes of life, hath 
a claim to this tribute from those that knew his pro- 
bity of character. We are following the dead in Christ 
rapidly to the grave. O that we may press after them 
in the way to heaven. My young friends, this sub- 
ject has strong claims on your attention. In you the 
spirit of imitation will operate in one form or another, 
, and we wish to guide it to patterns of genuine excel- 
lence, that society may rejoice in the revival of the 
virtues of the good and the useful, and in the fall of 
their mantle on those who are to occupy their place in 
the various departments of life. 

In discoursing on these words, I shall call your at* 
tention to the view which the apostle gives of the hap* 
piness of departed saints; to the means by which they 
attained it ; and recommend the imitation of their ex- 
ample. 

I. Let us attend to the view which the apostle gives 
of the happiness of departed saints. 



516 THE YOUNG CALLED TO SERM. XVli:, 

1st, The apostle intimates his persuasion that they 
were existing in a state of happiness. The immorta- 
lity of the soul has been admitted by the rudest na- 
tions. While they saw the body abandoned to insen- 
sibility and rottenness, they believed that the spirit 
which once dwelt in it was gone to a happier region, 
where the fatigues and the calamities of the present 
life were unknown. Their notions of its happiness 
were low and carnal, and clearly shew how necessary 
it was that a heavenly messenger should give us cor- 
rect information as to the future destiny of man, and 
elevate and purify the anticipations of the heart. A 
Saviour hath appeared, and with him are the words of 
eternal life. His gospel, which is full of grace and 
truth, assures us, that when good men depart from 
this world, they are received into glory, and enjoy a 
happiness which none but a pure heart can relish, and 
which shall bless such a heart with unmingled joy. 

The apostle's persuasion that the good men of whom 
he speaks were existing in a state of happiness, rested 
on grounds which authorize us to draw a similar con- 
clusion. He knew that grace and glory were inseparably 
connected ; that the persons to whom he referred had 
been distinguished by their fervent charity and devo- 
tion, the purity of their manners, and their patient 
continuance in a virtuous course ; that these are the 
characters of a soul qualified for heaven, and that death 
shall conduct all who are prepared for them into the 
mansions of bliss. 

The statement of the text is directly opposite to 
the notion, that the soul sleeps with the body from 
death till the resurrection. It is astonishing that men, 
with the scriptures before them, should have formed 
an opinion from which the light of nature kept the poor 
heathen amidst all his vain imaginations, and which is 



SER}f. XVIII. FOLLOW DEPARTED SAINTS. S 1 7 

equally contrary to the wishes of the heart, and to the 
hopes of religion. The soul's connection with the body 
is neither essential to its activity nor its happiness. 
The continuance of those in a state of utter insensibi- 
lity for ages whom God had formed to serve him, and 
taught to find their happiness in active goodness, ap- 
pears to us neither consistent with the wisdom nor the 
benevolence of the Deity. The idea of this would 
make the saints look forward to death with horror. 
But Christ has assured them, that when absent from 
the body, they shall be present with the Lord ; and 
this is the hope with which he supports them in their 
dying agonies ; a hope which he cannot disappoint ; 
" Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with 
me in paradise/' 1 

The language of this verse gives no countenance to 
the practice of representing all who die as going to 
heaven, however immoral their lives may have been. 
It does not surprise us, that relations to whom the idea 
of a dear friend lost for ever must be insupportable, 
should grasp at every thing that suggests to them the 
hope that they are happy, but the same apology can- 
not be made for others who will say at the funerals of 
the most profligate, that they are confident they are 
now in a better world, and support their assertion 
by idle appeals to the mercy of God, and to the 
specious qualities which sometimes grace the man- 
ners of the vilest libertine. But in spite of all the 
frowns and the censures of misjudging men, we must 
refuse our sanction to such gross delusion ; and while 
we beware of asserting the eternal perdition of any, 
let us maintain, that it is only the godly sorrow, 
and the Christian virtues of the departed, that can en* 



1 Luke xxiii. 43. 



318 



THE YOUNG CALLED TO SERM. XVIII. 



title us to pronounce with confidence, that here they 
were united to the Saviour, and that they are now su- 
premely blessed in his joy. The hopes of charity must 
rest on something else than the suggestions of presump- 
tion, or the wishes of pity. 

2d, This representation intimates, that the happi- 
ness of heaven has been revealed in various promises, 
and that these promises have been fulfilled to departed 
saints. The gracious designs of Jehovah respecting 
the eternal happiness of his people, were made known 
in his earliest revelations, and they appear with in- 
creasing perspicuity and amplitude in the course of 
ages. In the Gospel dispensation, exceeding great and 
precious promises of it are given. Some of these pro- 
mises are expressed in plain terms, others of them in 
figurative representations, uncommonly sweet and beau- 
tiful. In heaven there is a Fathers house, where we 
are told the good shall dwell, a crown which they shall 
wear, and a paradise where the tree of life flourishes, 
and streams of living water flow. The promises of 
Scripture assure us, that there the saints shall attain 
a perfect knowledge cf the character and ways of God ; 
that they shall enjoy uninterrupted fellowship with 
their Redeemer; that their intellectual and moral 
powers shall be raised to a perfection suited to the 
honour Christ hath conferred on their nature ; that 
memory shall recal no recollections but such as shall 
excite gratitude and joy ; and that their benevolent af- 
fections shall then be indulged without a single pang. 

These promises God hath made to extend our hope, 
to animate our obedience, and to comfort our hearts 
in this evil world. In these promises Jehovah appears 
as a father, directing the hopes of his children to the 
happiness which he has destined for them, that he 
may stimulate their ardour in every laudable pursuit, 



SERM. XVIH. FOLLOW DEPARTED SAINTS. 819 

and keep them from devoting their hearts to ensnaring 
vanities. 

Now, to the saints who are gone from this world, 
these promises are fulfilled. It has not been our pri- 
vilege, like the apostle John, to see the great multi- 
tude around the throne, with their white robes, their 
palms, and their harps ; but we have such reason to 
conclude that they are enjoying complete salvation, as 
will be rejected only by a desperate scepticism. That 
faithfulness of God which is displayed in hell in rea* 
lizing the forebodings of guilty fear, and in fulfilling 
all the threatenings of his law, is glorified in heaven in 
the accomplishment of every promise that pertains to 
the life to come. 

How full must not their happiness be ! Who can 
conceive the extent of their knowledge, the sweetness 
of their pleasures, the brightness of their glory, the 
ardour of their love, and the sublimity of their praise. 
Not a wish shall be left ungratified, and not a hope 
deferred. There is not a heart there that does not feel 
the most perfect complacency in the happiness allotted 
to it. In the world above there are different degrees 
of glory, but neither pride nor envy can exist there to 
stain the splendours of the highest, or to give a single 
pang to those who lived and died among the least of 
saints. The wishes of the immortal soul, which no 
attainment here could satisfy, shall then be gratified to 
the full. There the redeemed sing with higher rap- 
tures than earth admitted, " The Lord is the portion 
of mine inheritance, and of my cup, thou maintainest 
my lot. The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places,, 
yea I have a goodly heritage." 2 And never can any 



5 Psalm xvi. 5, 6. 



S>0 



THE YOUXU CALLED TO 



SERM. XVIII, 



defect in their bliss, or caprice on their part, lessen 
their impression of its beauty and value. 

3d, The language of the text intimates, that this fe- 
licity belongs to them as the children of God. The 
idea which we affix to an inheritance is this, that it is 
a father's gift and legacy to his children. The repre- 
sentations of the paternal character of God are most 
soothing to the heart, and connect the truths of reli- 
gion with its purest and sweetest feelings. As to our 
state by nature, the elect are the. children of the wick- 
ed one, and consequently heirs of hell ; but, in his 
infinite mercy, God sent forth his Son to redeem 
them from destruction, and to procure for them adop- 
tion into the family of heaven. He sends the Spirit 
of his Son to form in their hearts the dispositions and 
the virtues that become his children, and to prepare 
them for mingling with angels on high. It is to make 
this happiness more valued by them, and to stimulate 
their diligence in seeking it, that he tries them by the 
disappointments and troubles of the present scene. 
This is his parental discipline, so mild in its inflictions, 
and so gracious in its design. It is amidst these that 
they feel that this it not the place of their rest, and 
improve in that humility, that preference of spiritual 
objects, and that devotedness to God as their only joy, 
which especially qualify them for the exercises and the 
felicity of the better country. Among, men, the inhe- 
ritance is not possessed by the child till the death of 
the father, but the life of our heavenly Father is the 
source and the security of this happiness ; and, in the 
world of immortality, God shall be all in all. 

This is a most, pleasing representation of heaven to 
every pious heart. So much attached was Naboth to 
his vineyard, that all the tempting offers of Ahab could 
not induce him to part with it. " The Lord forbid it 



SEIiM. XVIIf. FOLLOW DEPARTED SAINTS. 321 

me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to 
thee/' 3 It gives to filial piety a tender interest in the 
smallest possession that it was obtained by a father's 
efforts, and bequeathed as a pledge of his love ; and 
shall not the children of God be much more attached 
to their inheritance of mercy ? It alleviates distress 
when we think of it as appointed by a Father's will, 
and shall not this consideration enhance the celestial 
blessedness ? Instead of being ashamed to acknow- 
ledge us as his children, and casting us off for ever, 
this is the language which good men will hear from 
him with rapture, of which we can now form no adequate 
idea, " I assign you these mansions, take these crowns, 
and wear these robes, as a testimony to the whole cre- 
ation of your relation to me, and of my love for you." 
" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, hath 
begotten us again to a lively hope by the resurrection 
of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance in* 
corruptible, undefiied, and that fadeth not away." 4 

4th, The expression intimates, that this felicity is 
entirely of grace. The man who hath acquired great 
possessions by his diligence in business, or his exploits 
in war, talks of his valour or his industry ; but what 
hath he to boast who possesses property merely by 
transmission from his ancestors ? The miseries of hell 
are the result of men's works ; and severe as the suf« 
ferings of the damned are, they will be aggravated by 
the upbraiding voice of conscience, H Hast thou not 
procured all this to thyself?" But amid the joys of 
heaven, humility and gratitude will keep it ever in the 
remembrance of the blessed, that all is the gift of 
love. 



3 1 Kings xxu 3. 



i 1 Pet. i. 3. 



322 THE YOUNG CALLED TO SERM. XVflC. 

The saints in this world require to be often remind- 
ed, " that they have nothing but what they have re- 
ceived but in heaven no risings of vain glory can be 
felt — the brightest of their honours they cast at their 
Redeemer's feet, and every emotion, and every song 
attests, that to him they owe their all. It was needful 
that the Israelites should be warned against saying, 
when they entered Canaan, " My might, and the 
power of mine arm, hath gotten me all this wealth f 
but the love, the gratitude, and the humility of the 
saints in heaven, will for ever dictate the song, " Thou 
art worthy, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us 
to God by thy blood." 5 Their works shall be gra- 
ciously rewarded, but never will a feeling rise through 
eternity in their minds opposite to those which they 
shall express in judgment, when Christ shall acknow- 
ledge their labours of love. 

5th, They possess this felicity for ever. The fair* 
est inheritances of this earth must be relinquished after 
a few years enjoyment. The possessor of the largest 
and most fertile domains, has reason to say as he sur- 
veys them, " these hills will rejoice, these vales will 
sing, and these trees will flourish for another, but not 
for me." Nay, it is not death only that drags away the 
great from their palaces and their fields ; misfortune and 
oppression have often rendered the wealthy poor, and 
the powerful dependent on the caprice and the bounty 
of others : " Here we have no continuing city, but we 
look for one that is to come." 6 Were the saints to be 
driven from the paradise of God, were they to fall 
from that perfection in holiness to which divine grace 
hath raised them, we must conclude that the purpose 
of Jehovah had been changed — that Jesus had ceased 



5 Rev. v. 9. 



6 Heb. xiii, 14, 



S£3&?. XVIII. FOLLOW DEPARTED SAINT.?. 

to be solicitous about their welfare — or, that such was 
man's proneness to evil, that no influence of heaven 
was sufficient to secure his stability in goodness ; but 
the Lamb in the midst of the throne is the constant 
guardian of their interests, and the eternal security of 
their happiness ; and perpetual obedience is the fixed 
choice of their hearts. 

Were the fear to arise in the minds of the blessed* 
that they would be forced to quit this inheritance, its 
hills of frankincense would lose their fragrance, the 
flowers of paradise would blossom to them in vain, and 
they would feel themselves incapable of relishing their 
best enjoyments. But the saints are not only secure 
from all change, but from every fear of it : Their hap- 
piness is sure in itself, and in their persuasion. They 
feel that they are safe for eternity. 

II. Let us now consider the means by which de- 
parted saints attained this happiness. These are faith 
and patience. - 

L The saints may be said to have attained this fe- 
licity by faith, because by it they believed the various 
assurances of the Gospel respecting the reality and the 
blessedness of this state. Men destitute of this prin- 
ciple, regard it as a vain dream, or degrade it by ho- 
ping to be saved in their sins. It is in vain that you 
speak to them of the delights of paradise, of the melo- 
dy of the redeemed, and of the Saviour in his glory ; 
the only enjoyments which they relish, are to be found 
in the pomp of vanity, the house of feasting, and the 
roar of mirth. But the saints obtain by faith such 
views of the joys and glories of the celestial world, that 
the fairest attractions of this earthly scene seem scarce- 
ly worthy of an admiring or wishful thought. 

It is by faith, also, that the righteousness of Christ 



324 THE YOUNG CALLED TO SERM. XVIII. 

is received, which entitles us to the possession of hea- 
ven. The happiness of heaven is great beyond all our 
conceptions, and lasting as eternity, but to it this di- 
vine righteousness is a sufficient title. It is exhibited 
in the Gospel, and received and improved by faith. 
That righteousness is assuredly worthy of our entire 
confidence, and of our loftiest praise, which raises so 
many millions of the children of wrath to fulness of 
joy in God's presence, and pleasures eternal at his right 
hand. 

Faith also animates good men to the cultivation of 
those graces, and to the performance of those actions 
which prepare for glory. This faith is utterly incom- 
patible with a habitual reluctance, and sluggishness in 
the discharge of duty. It gives vigour to eveiy prin- 
ciple, strength to every feeling, stedfastness to -every 
resolution, and constancy to every effort, of holiness. 

I only add on this topic, that it is through faith that 
the saints are kept by divine power to salvation. It is 
by the view which faith takes of the assurances of aid 
from above, that the most arduous duties are attempt- 
ed and fulfilled ; by its reliance on the divine protec- 
tion every danger is braved, and by the impressions 
which it produces and maintains of the guilt and dan- 
ger of apostacy, saints are kept from drawing back to 
perdition. 

2. But these saints attained this felicity through pa- 
tience. It was by this principle that they endured 
the afflictions through which they had to pass in their 
way to the kingdom. They did not deem it sufficient 
to maintain calmness of demeanour, or to utter the 
language of acquiescence. Some have exhibited this 
shew of submission while they were cursing God in 
their hearts. But in their most solitary hours, when 
unsupported by the aids of friendship, and when no 



SERM. XVIII. FOLLOW DEPARTED SAINTS. 



325 



human inspection could awe them into silence, they 
adored the wisdom and love of God in their sorrows, 
and raised neither a look nor a hand to avert the hea- 
viest of his strokes. Many saints now happy in hea- 
ven, have, when in the hovel of poverty, or on the bed 
of sickness, when their backs were torn by the scourge, 
and the iron was entering into their soul, manifested 
a patience mild and cheerful, not the silence of a sullen 
desperation, but the calmness of a heart tranquillized 
by resignation, and supported by hope. 

Patience also kept them waiting for this felicity till 
the period which God had fixed for their admission to 
heaven. Nature might sometimes suggest, why are 
my conflicts prolonged ? Why does not the Father of 
mercies take me from temptations and perils, under 
which my heart is fainting ? Why am I left in this 
scene of sorrow, when many who entered on it after 
me have gone to the rest above ? But patience shewed 
them, that the period of their trials was fixed by One 
who could not err, and who knew the discipline which 
their tempers required, and that the rapture of their 
triumph would be proportioned to the length and the 
severity of the struggle. 

By such means did the Captain of Salvation conduct 
these saints to glory, and it is vain for us to hope for 
heaven if we possess not these principles. Such is the 
irreversible appointment of Jehovah, which it became 
the character of the Most High to form ; and the wis- 
dom of it the enlightened mind will for ever adore. 

There are other graces in the Christian , life besides 
these, but it is by faith and patience that they are ani- 
mated and supported in their exercise. Love to God 
is not excited by the dreams of fancy, but by the be- 
lieving contemplation of the divine excellencies ; and 
patience maintains it amid the darkest scenes. The 
2 E 



S'£6 



THE YOUNG CALLED TO S£RM. XVIII; 



resistance of temperance to all the enticements of sin- 
ful pleasure, is strengthened by the persuasion of its 
dreadful issue ; and though the struggle betwixt appe- 
tite and reason should be painful, patience suffers not 
the heart to yield. It is by these two graces that the 
obedience of the saint is distinguished from the tempo* 
rary goodness of the enthusiast, and from the cold and 
partial homage of him who is unconscious of the beau- 
ty of holiness, and of the power of its motives. They 
are of the greatest service to each other, for patience 
moderates the precipitance of the heart, and keeps our 
confidence from presumption ; and faith enlivens pa- 
tience, and guards it from languor and despondence. 
These two graces meet the Christian pilgrim as he en- 
ters on the way to Zion — their influence is felt in eve- 
ry duty, in every conflict, and in every trial — they 
have their perfect work in his dying hour ; and when 
the last prayer is made, and the last pang has been en- 
dured, they leave him as he passes into that state of 
unmingled enjoyment, where God is seen face to face. 

III. I shall now recommend, by a few arguments, the 
imitation of departed saints. Consider that it is the 
command of God that you should follow them : " Take, 
my brethren, the prophets who have gone before you 
for an example of suffering affliction and patience. 
Wherefore, seeing we are compassed about with so 
great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every 
weight, and the sin that doth most easily beset us, and 
let us run with patience the race set before us, looking 
unto Jesus." 7 These injunctions will secure the com- 
pliance of every heart that regards the authority of God 
our Saviour. 



I James v. 10, Heb. xii. 1, 2. 



SERM. XVIII. FOLLOW DEPARTED SAINTS. S&7 

Consider, also, that their excellencies were exhibited 
before you, to awaken in your hearts admiration of ho* 
liness, and to excite you to labour to resemble them. 
If you act differently from these examples, your guilt 
will be aggravated by their being set before you. Did 
they live by faith, and shall you cherish an evil heart 
of unbelief? Did they despise the seducing gaieties 
of the world, and shall you be captivated by them ? 
Did they abhor the hidden things of dishonesty, and 
shall you walk in craftiness ? Did they put on meek- 
ness, and shall you indulge your wayward passions ? 
Did they triumph in Christ amid the agonies of death, 
and shall you faint under the difficulties of life ? Did 
they contend for the purity of the faith, and shall you 
witness the corrupting of it with indifference ? Were 
they useful in their station, and shall you live to your- 
selves, engrossed with the schemes and pursuits of 
a despicable selfishness ? Did they look at things eter- 
nal, and shall you mind earthly things alone ? Was 
the kindness of their youth devoted to the Redeemer, 
and shall yours be sacrificed to folly ? I trust your 
hearts are filled with horror at such opposition to their 
character, and glowing with a more eager zeal thau 
ever to equal them in excellence. 

Consider, too, that this is the only way by which 
you can be joined with them in their happiness. It is 
vain for the companion of fools to hope that he shall 
mingle with the spirits of the just. He could not re- 
lish their sweet counsel ; their raptures would excite in 
him no kindred feeling, nor could he find among them 
any employment suited to his taste and habits. God 
shall lead forth with the workers of iniquity, all whose 
temper and practice accorded with theirs. 

Some of you have lost pious relations whom you 



3£8 



THE YOUNG CALLED TO 



SHRM. XVII*. 



fondly loved, and you would undergo the severest la* 
bours, and make the most costly sacrifices, to press 
them once more to your hearts. By following their 
example, you will meet with them in a state far hap- 
pier and nobler than this, where death shall never tear 
them from you. Amidst the delights of heaven this 
will be the rejoicing of their hearts, that to you their 
example was useful, and that the purposes for which 
alone they could have wished to live longer on earth 
were prosecuted by you. 

I may add, that it is the earnest wish of the minis- 
ters of God that you should follow departed saints. 
They revere and love the pious in their churches — they 
consider themselves indebted for much of their com- 
fort and success to their prayers, counsels, and sympa- 
thy ; and when they visit them on their death-bed, and 
call them to rejoice in hope of the glory of God, it sad- 
dens their hearts to think what a loss their departure 
will be to the church on earth. When they attend 
their funeral, and see the dust spread over them, from 
the side of their grave they raise this prayer, " Help, 
Lord, for the godly man ceaseth." 8 Anxious that 
their place may be filled, they feel themselves prompt- 
ed to urge survivors to follow their steps. In this 
church many excellent persons have served their gene- 
ration according to the will of God. You remember 
how, in your childhood, you were affected with the 
tears of your parents for the death of the good ; and 
how, when they talked of their virtues, your hearts 
glowed with the wish, that you might live so as to be 
thus lamented ; and, as you were rising to manhood, 
you have marked the piety of others, the candour of 



» Psa. 3$. I. 



SERM. XVIII. FOLLOW DEPARTED SAINTS. 329 

their sentiments, their kind attentions to the poor, the 
sick, the inexperienced, and the friendless, and the 
gentleness and purity of their manners. They, too, 
are gone, and every scene where they acted recals to 
you their example, and enjoins you to imitate it care- 
fully. 

It is most painful to behold situations once held by 
the serious occupied by men destitute of the fear of 
God, and the indolent and the corrupt abusing the ad- 
vantages which were once devoted to the cause of piety 
and beneficence ; but we rejoice to see the place that 
death had emptied filled as respectably and usefully 
as before, and generation after generation praising the 
Saviour's works. Such is our wish respecting you ; 
" Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like minded." Could 
departed saints speak to you from their thrones, they 
would say, " Be followers of us as we were of Christ." 
They dwell in a world where Jesus reigns triumphant, 
but it is still their wish that religion may flourish in 
the scene which they have quitted, and that the whole 
earth may be filled with his glory. 

Say not, the imitation of departed saints will involve 
me in many troubles ; you may travel over arid de- 
serts, but in these there are wells of salvation. You 
may pass through floods of great waters, but they shall 
not overwhelm your souls. Enemies may threaten you 
if you advance, but God is with you, and by him you 
shall run through a troop. Hills must be climbed, but 
the power of Christ shall bear you up. Earthly friends 
may upbraid and reject you, but departed saints shall 
claim you as their children, and rejoice in the glory 
that is preparing for you. Say then, " I will go in the 
strength of the Lord God." 



I shall conclude the discoure with a few exhortations, 



330 



THE YOUNG CALLED TO SERM. XVIif. 



1st, Let us lament that this admirable precept has 
been so much abused. In the Popish church, it has 
been abused to serve the vilest purposes of imposture 
and superstition. Under pretence of obedience to this 
precept, invocation of departed saints has been practi- 
sed — the house of silence has been ransacked, and the 
bones of martyrs and confessors brought out and placed 
on shrines as objects of worship, or used for the per- 
formance of miraculous cures. The days of their birth 
or their death have been observed for solemn religious 
worship ; and over the places where they suffered, or 
were buried, churches have been reared and called by 
their name. Who can think, without sorrow and in- 
dignation, on this perversion of this precept, and that 
two of the noblest feelings of the human heart, admira- 
tion and respect for departed worth, should have been 
thus warped and debased by superstition ? Pure reli- 
gion honours the dead without reproaching their Ma- 
rker ; and to imitate the excellence of a departed saint, 
is to confer on his memory a brighter lustre than what 
it can derive from the eulogies of genius, or the mo- 
numents of gratitude. 

2d, Let us leave such an example of faith and pa- 
tience, that it may be the duty of the church to make 
us the objects of remembrance and imitation. Alas, 
many leave nothing to be remembered but their indo- 
lence, their folly, and their crimes ! It is in vain that 
flattering characters are given, or monuments erected 
and inscribed with the highest praises, to secure a 
worthless or pro&igate character from censure. Exter- 
nal circumstances may throw a glare around the wick- 
ed while they live, but it is by our possessing or want- 
ing religious and moral excellence, that when we are 
gone our characters must stand or fall. Is there a man 

4 



S£RM. XVIII. FOLLOW DEPARTED SAINTS. 



331 



who hath no wish that his memory may be cherished 
with respect when he is gone? infidelity or despair 
have destroyed all the virtuous sensibilities of his heart. 
Were the atrocious transgressor to reflect ori the con- 
sequences of his crimes as to his soul in the other 
world, and his memory in this, how would it startle 
him? While his soul shall be miserable in all its 
powers, the mention of his name shall raise the blush 
of shame on the cheeks of his relations, and the sight 
of his grave shall suggest to the mind of the spectator* 
that it is the last abode of a profligate or a villain. On 
the other hand, the memory of the just is blessed ; and 
the place where he lies is often honoured with this sim- 
ple but expressive eulogy, " This is the grave of a 
good man." 

3d, Let this felicity which you have been contem* 
plating cherish heavenly mindedness in you; Say not 
of this world, this is my home. Presumption and false 
friendship may whisper to you that you have done 
enough to secure your eternal salvation, and that the 
God who intends to make you happy hereafter, wishes 
you not to withhold your hearts from any present joy« 
But if you are entangled in the pollutions of the world;, 
afflictions and terrors, will 'be sent 'to restore your soul, 
and to teach you that it is your wisdom and your safe- 
ty to watch and to be sober* 

" And seekest thou great things for thyself, seek 
them not." You know how the mother of the sons of 
Zebedee, besought our Lord that they might fill the 
highest stations in that temporal kingdom which they 
foolishly expected. 9 It is likely that she was urged 
by the inconsiderate ambition of these two young mm 



J Matth. xx.. 2D, U. 



332 THE YOUNG CALLED TO SLRM. XVIII. 

to present this request. You ask your parents to pray 
for you, but desire them not to solicit for you, and seek 
not for yourselves, that worldly prosperity which might 
destroy you, but eternal salvation, and the wisdom 
and humility, the integrity and the charity, that guide 
to it. 

Finally, I would exhort the unconverted to seek a 
title to this happiness, and preparation for it. The 
righteousness of Christ, and the grace of his Spirit, 
are offered to you in the Gospel, with all the earn-, 
estness of divine compassion ; and by accepting these 
you shall not perish, but have everlasting life. If you 
refuse them, you must be excluded from this happiness, 
and doomed to excruciating, unpitied, and endless mi- 
sery. You may bless yourselves in your heart with 
the delusive hopes of peace and safety, but " the anger 
of the Lord shall smoke against you, and all the curses 
that are written in this book shall be upon you." 10 We 
beseech you to flee from the wrath to come, and to 
look for the mercy ©f our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal 
life. 

There have been too many in the visible church, 
with regard to whom it is to be feared that they died 
in their sins. And is their example of thoughtlessness, 
lukewarmness, and impenitence, so attracting that you 
are determined to follow it ? Will ye be followers of 
those who neglected the great salvation, and despised 
the Son of God, though they are now feeling the power 
of his anger ? Forsake, this moment, the course of 
this world, and from this hour to your last, walk in the 
way of holiness, and tread the path that leads to life 
everlasting. 



10 Deut. xxix. %0* 



SERM XVIII. FOLLOW DEPARTED SAWTS. $33 

t: And now I commend you all to God, and to the 
word of his grace, that is able to build you up, and to 
give you an inheritance among them that are sancti- 
fied." Vk Amen. 



11 Acts xx. 32. 



THE ENfl. 



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**. The perusal of this work has afforded us much instruction 
and pleasure. We think it calculated to be uncommonly useful. 
The topics are wisely selected, and give great variety and interest, 
to the very solemn service of commemorating the death of our 
blessed Saviour. Doctrinal and practical religion are seen honour- 
ing the cross of Christ together, travelling towards heaven in com- 
pany, and there concluding the Christian pilgrimage in the ever- 
lasting perfection of love. The sentiments are entirely and de- 
cidedly evangelical. The style is on the whole well adapted to the 
subject, and to that high tone of affectionate piety, which, as is 
manifest, it is at once the purpose and the inclination of the Author 
to recommend and cherish. This volume will of itself be a pre- 
cious treasure in the closet, and in the family where daily fellow- 
ship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ, is prized and 
sought ; and, as its merits come to be known, we are confident 
that its sale will be rapid and extensive." 

Christian Instructor/oi* March 181&. 

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priate passages of scripture, are employed as the themes of the Ad- 
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ward, and maintain the high ground which the inspiration of God 
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who believes, and feels his subject. There is a light and heat in 
most edifying assemblage. The language is classical, and the ar- 
rangement orderly. We would recommend the perusal of these 
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which to form their own addresses." 

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" This publication appears to us a valuable addition to the reli- 
gious books of the present age, and will be read with great advan- 
tage by those who wish to love their Redeemer more fervently, and 
to have their hearts made better. With the evangelical principles, 
and the devotional feelings, which his addresses and meditations are 
often powerfully fitted to strengthen, as well as to excite, the Au- 
thor uniformly connects the practical and sanctifying influence on 
the affections, the temper, the language, and the whole deport- 
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